Divorced mother can’t change children’s names 
Published: January 25, 2012
Tags: divorce
A divorced mother was not entitled to a presumption that she was acting in her children’s best interests when she filed a motion to change their surname, the New Jersey Appellate Division has ruled in reversing judgment.
Ex-wife can keep federal life insurance benefits
Published: January 23, 2012
Tags: divorce, Federal Employees' Group Life Insurance Act, life insurance
Federal law preempts a state law which would preclude a woman from keeping the proceeds of a federal employee life insurance policy as her ex-husband’s named beneficiary, the Virginia Supreme Court has ruled in reversing judgment.
Florida considers alimony caps, duration limits
Published: January 5, 2012
Tags: alimony, divorce
Following in the footsteps of states like Massachusetts and New Jersey, multiple pieces of legislation have been introduced in the Florida legislature to update alimony laws.
Husband’s VA disability counts in awarding alimony
Published: December 15, 2011
Tags: alimony, disability benefits, divorce, spousal support
Federal law does not prevent a state court from considering a husband’s veterans’ disability benefits in calculating spousal support in his divorce, the South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled in affirming judgment.
Military health insurance counts as marital asset
Published: December 12, 2011
Tags: divorce, property division, Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act
A husband’s post-retirement military health insurance benefits could be valued in dividing marital property in his divorce, the Alaska Supreme Court has ruled.
ERISA preempts state law on post-divorce beneficiaries
Published: December 7, 2011
Tags: divorce, ERISA, life insurance
A state probate law that extinguishes the right of a divorced spouse to receive life insurance benefits as a named beneficiary is preempted by ERISA, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled in reversing judgment.
Excessive gambling supports wife’s claim for divorce
Published: December 6, 2011
Tags: divorce, gambling
A husband’s excessive gambling may constitute “habitual cruelty” supporting a wife’s claim for divorce, the Mississippi Court of Appeals in affirming judgment.
ERISA pension plan subject to $1.5 million judgment
Published: December 1, 2011
Tags: divorce, ERISA
The anti-alienation rule of ERISA does not prevent the enforcement of $1.5 million judgment against a pension plan that mistakenly credited amounts to a participant’s former wife, the 2nd Circuit has ruled in affirming judgment.
Wife’s stock options may be divisible in divorce
Published: November 16, 2011
Tags: divorce, property division, stock options
Stock options that a wife received from her employer may be marital property subject to division in her divorce – even though her rights in those assets vested following the parties’ separation, the Virginia Supreme Court has ruled in reversing judgment.
Wife shares in asset appreciation after divorce filing
Published: November 7, 2011
Tags: divorce, property division, valuation
A wife was entitled to share in the “passive” appreciation of the husband’s business that occurred following their filing for divorce, the South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled.
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