Tying it All Together (Part 1)

In previous sections of this guide, I discussed the primary money components of divorce. We examined the underlying rules and concepts governing the courts ultimate decision regarding all the non-custody matters relating to your divorce. In this closing section, I want to give you a sense of how these various parcels of issues, these financial clusters, are commonly configured in the final outcome. As should already be clear, with infrequent exceptions, this ultimate outcome, whatever the tapestry of its various threads, is at heart a product of the judge's actual or anticipated leanings. (The exceptions are related to those intangible psychological factors such as guilt, fear of embarrassment, etc., as well as to that occasional case tried essentially for the appellate court). Trials of course reflect the former and settlement the latter.

The previous sections should have given you a sufficient foundation to allow me to try to tie it all together in the fashion of final decrees. Also, I believe that as I discuss these interrelationships, your understanding of each of the topics considered will inherently increase. Furthermore, while the quid-pro-quo underlying the discussions in this chapter relates most directly to settlement scenarios, keep in mind that if the case is tried, the judge will likely weigh many of the same cost-benefits vis-à-vis each party in its search for an "equitable" judgment.

Some of my discussions in this section will overlap other portions of this guide as well as areas of Dad's Guide To Custody, but the resultant repetitions hopefully solidifies more than bores. The prospect for settlement should be explored by you and your attorney as early in a case as your information permits (Note: I did not say both side's information - you may aspire to settle before unfavorable information is discovered by your opponent - this tactic is subject, of course, to certain legal and ethical parameters). Also remember that settlements need not be global. That is, they need not settle every issue. The wisdom of a particular partial settlement is dictated by each party's circumstances.