Jurisdictions across the United States have different laws and traditions concerning how property is divided during a divorce. Generally, judges are not required to follow any strict formula for property division; however, the guidelines and laws offer factors for courts to consider in awarding property to each spouse. Rhode Island…
A Rhode Island divorce can be an extremely difficult and complicated legal dispute, often because the stakes of a child custody dispute are always very high. Although there is limited statutory direction to guide the courts when awarding custody of a child to one parent or the other, the courts…
Couples considering divorce in Rhode Island have most likely heard horror stories from other divorced couples who complain about complicated and expensive divorce lawsuits that went on for years, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more. As a divorce case becomes more contested and the parties dig in their…
Factual determinations that are made by family courts in Rhode Island divorce proceedings may be the subject of much dispute and differing interpretations, but appellate courts usually grant lower courts great deference by accepting a family court’s factual findings unless there is overwhelming evidence of a mistake. The Rhode Island…
The term equitable distribution refers to how a court divides up a couple’s assets in a Rhode Island divorce. Rather than split a couple’s assets down the middle 50/50, courts consider a variety of factors when determining how to divide assets and liabilities. The concept behind the doctrine of equitable…
The Rhode Island Supreme Court recently issued a decision in a family law case discussing the calculation of child support. According to the court’s opinion, the couple in the case married in 1990 and began divorce proceedings in 2014. The mother subsequently petitioned the court for child support. After a…
Last month, the state’s high court issued an opinion in a Rhode Island family law case discussing a marital settlement agreement and whether Husband was entitled to visitation with two dogs. While at first glance the case may seem narrowly focused, it provides valuable insight regarding Rhode Island marital settlement…
Although Rhode Island does not allow for annulments, practically speaking, a Rhode Island marriage can be declared “void” by the court. This carries the same effect as an annulment, meaning that it is as though there was no marriage in the first place. Thus, while Rhode Island technically does not…
When a couple goes through a Rhode Island divorce, there are many issues that must be resolved. For example, the division of the couple’s assets, who will take on the responsibility for the marital debt, which party will get to remain in the marital home, and whether there is the…
The issue of how a couple’s assets and liabilities are divided up is one of the most contentious issues in many Rhode Island divorces. Indeed, it is not as simple as merely dividing everything in half. Instead, Rhode Island uses an equitable distribution model when determining what each spouse is…