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The Sacred Circle A Safe Haven for women on the Journey to Divorce and Beyond Message Information Embrace being a Woman Breaking down the Stereotype It’s all about You Legal Children Support
LEGAL Divorce can bring on emotional distress and financial difficulties. Finding an excellent divorce lawyer who will cater to your needs is a difficult task but highly important. Sadly, the laws pretaining to divorce are driving women with dependent children into poverty everyday. Divorced women with children are four times more likely than married women to have an income that is under the poverty line (Steiner, 139).I was shocked to discover that the law refuses to recognize household labor in divorce cases. “The law fails to enforce contracts between spouses for housework. Furthermore, homemakers are only ensured Social Security benefits by maintaining their relationship with their spouse and not through a history of work in the home. Contract, tax and divorce law all allow the spouse who earns a wage to keep the money away from the spouse who works in the home. However, it is much more difficult for the spouse who works in the home to not share his or her work in the home with the wage-earner spouse. Furthermore, during a divorce, housework is frequently considered to have lower economic value than the wage of the spouse who works in the labor market. This is particularly true when the wage-earning spouse is middle class or wealthy. And if the woman works both in the marketplace and in the home, she is disadvantaged because usually only one of those contributions is considered at divorce’’ (Steiner, 138).
The woman’s role has always been to tend to the home and the children which makes them the primary caregiver. Thomas Oldham expresses in, Changes in the Economic Consequences of Divorce,the continuing cost of being the primary caregiver. He explains that when a couple has one or more children, the career of at least one parent is affected. Oldham shows evidence of this statement by explaining a study which compaired the earnings of female nonmothers, mothers, and men at the age of 30. “One investigator found that female non mothers earned 90% of what men earned at age 30; in contrast, mothers earned an average 70% of the male wage” (Oldham, Changes in the Economic Consequences of Divorce, Family Law Quarterly 42.3. 2008. 3). Women are constantly at a disadvantage so obtaining knowledge and guidance is the best decision you can make for you and your child’s future.
Getting great legal representation is imperative! Most divorce lawyers out there do not care about your emotions or even the outcome. They just want to prolong the divorce process in hopes of earning few thousand dollars more, which comes from YOUR pocket! Do your research and ask around!
A couple great websites that offer information as well as free divorce papers are available for you. Here are a few: - edivorcepapers.com - aboutdivorce.org - divorcesource.com - http://www.divorcesource.com/info/financialplanning/financialplanning.shtml
There are several websites that provide a search for divorce attorneys in every state, here are a few:
- http://family-law.freeadvice.com/divorce_law/ - http://www.womansdivorce.com/find-a-divorce-attorney.html
Aside from finding a great lawyer, you are going to want to find a great financial advisor! “A member of the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts specializes in the financial issues surrounding divorce. The role of the CDFA includes acting as an advisor to one party's divorce lawyer, or as a mediator for both parties. A CDFA uses his or her knowledge of tax law, asset distribution, and short- and long-term financial planning to achieve an equitable settlement” (Investopedia UCL, The Wall Street Journal. 2010). Protect the future of you and your children.
Financial Planning websites: - http://www.divorcesource.com/info/financialplanning/financialplanning.shtml - http://www.divorceandfinance.org/
Although this is an emotionally difficult time, you still need to be smart. There are countless resources besides the few I listed above and also ask around for references. If our own laws arent providing the proper financial protection then you are your only hope!
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