Graham.Law Blog

Last month the Colorado Court of Appeals considered the appropriateness of a trial court including in a party’s income undistributed business earnings never actually paid to him, or “phantom income.” In Hills, the husband had a 2% partnership interest in a company. but as an “economic unit partner”, he was…

What is a High Income or High Asset Divorce? High asset & high income divorces have issues which attorneys and clients alike may not necessarily think about in a “normal” divorce case. And as we explain below, cases involving affluent clients differ from other cases from the very start, both…

Another year, and that means more annual Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) for military across the board – active duty, reservists, military retirement, and VA disability. Active Duty & Reservist Military Pay Increases The military received a nice 3% Cost of Living Adjustment for 2021 – see the 2021 military…

VA Disability Payments are Income The Colorado Court of Appeals just issued a new decision in what it characterized: “As a matter of first impression in Colorado, whether a provision of the Uniformed Services Former Spouses’ Protection Act (USFSFPS)… prohibits a trial court from including a parent’s veteran’s disability benefits…

Even though justice is blind, image is still important. Wear proper court
attire & act respectfully to avoid hurting your Colorado family law case.

Alimony Or Child Support: Self-Employed vs Salaried Determining alimony or child support when a spouse is self-employed is more complicated than for a traditional employee. With an employee, all employment compensation on a W-2 counts, and it typically consists of salary (or an hourly wage), with the possibility of bonuses…

Colorado Maintenance Guidelines Not Written in Stone Colorado’s maintenance statute has an alimony formula applicable at divorce, but as the Colorado Court of Appeals constantly reminds the family law bar – and bench – the statutory maintenance guidelines contained in are not presumptive, only advisory. And that distinction means something. While…

The Colorado Child Support Guidelines When the parents of a child divorce, or were never married, Colorado law provides for the payment of child support. Child support is directed by a mathematical formula set forth in . While the amount of support is affected by almost a dozen factors, by…

Your Family Support Obligation & Covid-19 Even before Gov. Polis issued a statewide stay-at-home order, many families were already struggling with how to handle child custody orders and Covid-19. The updated stay-at-home order makes it clear that parenting exchanges are not suspended, and that parents should be compliant with any court…

Deferred Compensation is Not Income The Colorado Court of Appeals just held that deferred compensation payments from an employer to a non-qualified plan (i.e. it’s not a retirement account under ERISA) do not count as income for purposes of child support. N.J.C. In the N.J.C. case, the father was a cardiologist, who earned…