Category Archives: Family Law
Bankruptcy & Divorce, which first?
Bankruptcy and Divorce
Lets take the following hypothetical situation:
Ryan and Lauren are married but soon to be divorced. Ryan is planning on moving from the marital residence in Miamisburg, Ohio, to Tennessee with his new girlfriend Jennifer. Lauren has already moved to Kettering, Ohio. Can they file a joint bankruptcy together in Dayton? Would it be better to wait and file their bankruptcy after the divorce is final?
Divorces breed bankruptcies. During the marriage there was one household with one set of expenses. Once one spouse moves out, there become two households and two sets of expenses, and divorce litigation can be very costly. Filing bankruptcy is often the only solution for people getting divorced. But how does separation and divorce affect a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy?
Ryan and Lauren can file a joint petition at any time during their marriage, even if they are maintaining separate residences. Filing joint bankruptcy is cheaper because saves the additional filing fee. However, most bankruptcy attorneys will not advise filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in anticipation of a divorce. Chapter 13 bankruptcies require that the debtors make monthly payments for 36 or 60 months. This is impractical to do if the individuals involved will no longer be married.
The timing of the two separate cases in Ohio is also important. Filing either a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy will stall any existing divorce proceedings. The bankruptcy court issues what is called an Automatic Stay at the beginning of the bankruptcy that prohibits anyone from taking action on any debts. Therefore, the divorce court cannot divide the debts of the spouses until the divorce case is final or a Relief From Stay is obtained from the bankruptcy court. It is often considered preferable to file the joint Chapter 7 bankruptcy a couple of weeks before filing the divorce case, as the Chapter 7 bankruptcy does not generally take as long as a contested divorce.
A skilled bankruptcy attorney will be able to answer all of your questions about filing bankruptcy in the context of a divorce or separation. Many Dayton-Springfield area attorneys offer free bankruptcy consultation.
Montgomery, Greene, Butler, Clark, Miami and Warren County Ohio: Divorce Fact 5/10: Restraining orders of bank accounts & life insurance policies
RESTRICTIONS ON THE PARTIES WHILE THE CASE IS PENDING: 
By Ohio Revised Code, neither party is permitted to cancel or change beneficiaries of any life or health insurance policies while the case is pending. Do not change or cancel insurance policies while the action is pending. This is a matter of statutory law and applies to all parties to a divorce in Ohio. In other words, this is not something that your attorney will seek to have the court order for your case – it is simply the law for every case. In fact, the Court would not have the power to allow a party to change or alter the provisions of insurance policies that are in place at the time of the filing for divorce.
However, it is also quite common for both parties to file for Temporary Restraining Orders to restrain the opposing party from doing something while the case is pending. These restraining orders are actual, binding court orders that restrict the parties from doing certain activities while the case is pending. Some common temporary restraining orders that our firm might file include:
a. Restrain the parties from incurring further debt in the other party’s name
b. Restraining the parties from depreciating assets
c. Restraining the parties from removing the children from the state of Ohio
d. Restraining one of the parties from re-entering the marital home, if that party has been voluntarily absent from the home for more than 30 consecutive days.
e. Restraining the parties from abusing, annoying or harassing the other party
This Ohio divorce fact was brought to you by the Miami-Valley law offices of Morrison & Nicholson. Author: Charles W. Morrison, Partner at Morrison & Nicholson. Call today to schedule a free consultation with an attorney by calling (937) 432 – 9775.
Posted in Family Law
Tagged account restraining orders, bankruptcy, debt marriage, divorce bank accounts
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Montgomery, Greene, Butler, Clark, Miami and Warren County Ohio: Divorce Fact 6/10: How long will my divorce / dissolution case take?
THE TIMING OF THE CASE WLL VARY DEPENDING ON SERVICE OF PROCESS AND THE COURT’S DOCKET: If you are the Plaintiff (filing for divorce first), you must first “perfect service” of process and the court summons on the other party (Defendant) before the court (Greene, Butler, Montgomery, Clark, and Warren County Courts) will schedule a court date. The Court does not have jurisdiction over the opposing party until he/she has been properly served with the appropriate paperwork. Service is typically perfected via certified mail, issued by the Clerk of Courts shortly after the case is filed. Essentially, the Clerk gathers all of the documents filed, creates its own summons, and requests that the postal service deliver the documents to the defendant via certified mail. The Court will not consider service perfected until the U.S.P.S. sends the return receipt to the Clerk of Court’s office.
If the defendant refuses to sign or otherwise claim the certified mail, the clerk of courts will then notify your attorney that service was not perfected. The attorney will then ask the clerk to “re-issue” service via regular mail, as Ohio law allows service by regular mail if the certified mail was unclaimed or refused by the defendant. Service can also be perfected via personal service by the county sheriff or a special process server (although these methods are more expensive than certified mail). Regardless of how service is ultimately perfected, the court will not schedule the case for a hearing until service has been completed. Further impacting the scheduling of the case is the court’s own docket. Logically, if the court has a backed-up docket, your case will be scheduled out further than if the court’s docket is not as crowded. How quickly you receive a court date cannot be controlled by the attorneys.
Brought to you by the Miami-Valley law offices of Morrison & Nicholson. Author: Charles W. Morrison, Partner at Morrison & Nicholson. Call today to schedule a free consultation with an attorney by calling (937) 432 – 9775.
Posted in Family Law
Tagged dissolution, Divorce, divorce docket times, miami county clerk of courts
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Montgomery, Greene, Butler, Clark, and Warren County Ohio: Divorce Fact 7/10: Providing Financial Affidavits etc.
YOU WILL NEED TO PROVIDE CERTAIN PERSONAL INFORMATION: Some Courts have mandatory discovery procedures where each party must voluntarily turnover financial information to the other side (Montgomery County requires mandatory disclosure of financial information). This helps both parties understand what marital and non-marital assets and liabilities are involved in the case and helps facilitate settlement. Further, Ohio rules of civil procedure allow each party to demand certain information and answers under oath to certain questions from the other party. Finally, certain courts, such as Greene County Domestic Relations Court and Montgomery County) require mandatory pre-trial statements be filed with the court (that contain an offer of settlement) that must be completed and exchanged between the parties before the pre-trial with the judge.
Brought to you by the Centerville, Ohio law offices of Morrison & Nicholson. Call today to schedule a free consultation (937) 432 – 9775.
Posted in Family Law
Tagged financial affidavit, greene county dr court, personal information
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Montgomery, Greene, Clark, and Warren County Ohio: Divorce Fact 8/10: When Minor Children are involved you must attend a seminar
WHEN MINOR 
CHILDREN ARE INVOLVED YOU WILL NEED TO ATTEND A SEMINAR: If the case involves children, Ohio law mandates that both parties attend a parenting seminar prior to the final hearing. The purpose of the seminar is to educate both parents as to how children are affected by a divorce and ways in which to manage the adjustment. The class is usually two hours and is held in the evenings. The location of the seminar varies by county, as each county has its own seminar provider. For instance, in Montgomery County the seminar is held at Sinclair Community College in downtown Dayton, Ohio.
Brought to you by the Miami Valley Ohio law offices of Morrison & Nicholson. Call today to schedule a free consultation (937) 432 – 9775.
