If you are getting remarried and are divorced or if you have children from a prior marriage, the Elliot Green Law Offices are family lawyers in Brooklyn, New York who can help you take important steps to protect your rights and the rights of your children. If you’ve been previously married or if you have children from another marriage or relationship, getting remarried can be more complicated. For example, you’ll need to consider how getting married can impact your children’s inheritance, your alimony payments, your child support payments, and child custody. Before getting remarried, talk to the Elliot Green Law Offices, family law attorneys in Brooklyn, New York today to learn more about steps you’ll need to take to protect yourself and your family.
Remarriage and Alimony
In many cases, if you get remarried, alimony will end. However, if your divorce settlement had provisions that stated that alimony would continue regardless of your marital status, you may be able to continue to receive alimony if you’ve gotten remarried. It all depends on your divorce settlement. If your alimony has an end date, in some cases, it may be in your financial interests to delay marriage until alimony ends to avoid losing this income. If you live with your partner and experience an increase in income by living with a person to whom you are not married, your former partner who is paying alimony might be able to petition the court to end alimony, so before you make any major decision about cohabitation or remarriage, it may be wise to speak to a family lawyer in Brooklyn, New York. The Elliot Green Law Offices are family law attorneys who can review your alimony agreement, your divorce agreement, and help you understand how remarriage may impact you.
Remarriage and Child Support
If you are planning on getting remarried, whether remarriage will impact child support will depend on whether you are the custodial parent or whether you are the parent who pays child support. If you are the parent with custody of your child, generally, remarriage won’t have a major impact on your child support payments. However, if you are marrying a partner with higher income than you or if your remarriage will change your financial situation significantly, then your former partner may be able to petition the court to reduce child support payments. In some cases, a new partner of a custodial parent may want to adopt the children. This may happen when one parent is not active in a child’s life or has had difficulty meeting child support payments. If your former partner is willing to relinquish parental rights and if your future partner wants to adopt, then the child’s biological parent will no longer be obligated to pay child support if your child is adopted by your new partner. Your new partner will then be obligated to care financially for the child. However, this is the only scenario where your new partner would be obligated to provide financially for a child from a former marriage. In most cases, the biological parents are responsible for this. Adoption is often a rare scenario, but it does happen, and if you have been considering this option, it is important to speak to a family lawyer like the Elliot Green Law Offices in Brooklyn, New York to understand the legal steps that must be taken to make this happen.
If you remarry and are not the custodial parent, if you remarry and this pushes you into a higher income bracket, generally you won’t be required to pay more in child support. The courts typically view child support as the parent’s sole responsibility, not the responsibility of your new spouse. However, there are situations where things can get complicated. For example, if you and your new spouse go into business together, or if you purchase real-estate or other investments together, this new income and gains from investments could be considered as your income and therefore factor into the child support payments you may be required to pay. However, you may be able to fight this if your former partner is seeking increased child support payments on this basis alone.
Another way that child support can be impacted by remarriage is if you are getting remarried and are adopting children or plan to have children with your new partner. If you are the non-custodial parent and your family has grown, you could argue that you might need to lower child support payments to your former spouse so that you can spread your assets equally among all your children, including children from your new marriage. This can be a complex argument because the courts may be reluctant to lower child support payments. However, if an old child support order is impacting your ability to care for all your children, you may be able to petition the court for a change.
If you are getting remarried, plan to have children, or are planning to adopt, speak to the family lawyers at the Elliot Green Law Offices in Brooklyn, New York today. Our attorneys can assist you with understanding how remarriage might impact your child support and can work with you to protect your rights. Your children deserve to be cared for financially.
Remarriage and Inheritance
If you are getting remarried, you may want to take another look at your wills and trusts. Laws govern how property is distributed after a person passes away, and generally, your spouse if you are married, will inherit your property and assets. However, if you are remarried and there is no will intestate laws can vary from state to state. This means that if you want to ensure that your children from a former marriage get first priority for certain property, you’ll need to specify this in your will. The Elliot Green Law Offices are Brooklyn, New York family law attorneys who can help you understand how remarriage might impact your children’s rights to your property should you pass away. It can be important to take steps to protect your children and your legacy today, before you get married. You may need to take steps to set aside assets specifically for your children, from day one.
Remarriage can impact other aspects of your financial life. A divorce lawyer can review your divorce agreement to see what aspects of your financial life can and cannot be changed. For example, if your former spouse legally has access to your retirement account, you may not be able to add your new spouse on this account. However, if your ex-spouse is not entitled to these accounts and you don’t update this information upon remarrying, things could get complicated should you pass away. If you own a home or property, it might be important to be clear about whether your new spouse will receive this property upon your death or if you intend to leave it to your children. This can avoid conflict and make your wishes clear. The Elliot Green Law Offices are family law attorneys in Brooklyn, New York who can help you ask the tough questions you need to ask to protect your legacy and ensure that your wishes are honored when it comes to property and assets.
Remarriage and Child Custody
In rare cases a spouse’s remarriage can impact child custody. If your partner marries a partner with a criminal record, with a violent past, or if a partner’s remarriage would put your child in a home situation where you might be concerned for your child’s safety and well-being, you may be able to modify your child custody order. The Elliot Green Law Offices are family lawyers in Brooklyn, New York who can help you understand how remarriage might impact custody. If your former partner’s remarriage is raising concerns, protect your children and your family. Remember, child custody agreements can be changed when there is a significant change in circumstances. A partner’s remarriage could qualify as such. Contact the Elliot Green Law offices, family lawyers in Brooklyn, New York today.
Getting Remarried? Contact a Family Lawyer First
In order to get remarried in Brooklyn, New York, you’ll need to present your divorce decree before a new marriage license will be issued. You’ll also want to ask tough questions about how remarriage will impact alimony, child support, child custody, and inheritance. Before getting remarried it might also be wise to draft a prenuptial agreement with your new partner. If you’ve been through the divorce process once, you’ll understand how important it is to make clear which property is separate, which is shared, and what the expectations are regarding finances during the marriage. Contact the Elliot Green Law Offices, family lawyers in Brooklyn, New York today to learn more about your rights and options under the law when it comes to getting remarried. Our lawyers can help you with prenuptial agreements and with taking steps to protect your new blended family’s rights.
