MLG LAW GROUP-CHICAGO DIVORCE AND CUSTODY LAWYERS

The Mehta Law Group, provides sound legal representation in the following areas: * Divorce, * Custody & Child Support * DUI/ Traffic * Contract/ Business Disputes * Real Estate Closings * Personal Injury * Landlord * Tenant Law *Forecloure Defense Flat fees and low hourly rates The Mehta Law Group 312-590-2000 info@mehtalawgroup.com

1. Are gifts subject to equitable distribution in a divorce case? No. N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23 specifically excludes from equitable distribution all gifts received by either spouse from a third party. The third party is in most instances the parties’ parents. However, it is important to note that interspousal gifts are subject to equitable distribution. The burden of proving that an asset is an interspousal gift rests upon the party alleging the status of the property. Many disputes have arisen over whether a gift was to one or to both spouses, or whether a gift to one spouse lost its separate and immune character by virtue of being commingled with marital property – for example, by deposit in a joint savings bank account. See Dotsko v. Dotsko, 224 N.J. Super. 668 (App. Div. 1990). A typical type of interspousal gift is the conveyance of a home owned by one spouse prior to the marriage to both spouses as tenants by the entireties after the marriage. Such a gift converts what would otherwise h...

The Mehta Law Group, provides sound legal representation in the following areas: * Divorce, * Custody & Child Support * DUI/ Traffic * Contract/ Business Disputes * Real Estate Closings * Personal Injury * Landlord * Tenant Law *Forecloure Defense Flat fees and low hourly rates The Mehta Law Group 312-590-2000 info@mehtalawgroup.com

1. Are gifts subject to equitable distribution in a divorce case? No. N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23 specifically excludes from equitable distribution all gifts received by either spouse from a third party. The third party is in most instances the parties’ parents. However, it is important to note that interspousal gifts are subject to equitable distribution. The burden of proving that an asset is an interspousal gift rests upon the party alleging the status of the property. Many disputes have arisen over whether a gift was to one or to both spouses, or whether a gift to one spouse lost its separate and immune character by virtue of being commingled with marital property – for example, by deposit in a joint savings bank account. See Dotsko v. Dotsko, 224 N.J. Super. 668 (App. Div. 1990). A typical type of interspousal gift is the conveyance of a home owned by one spouse prior to the marriage to both spouses as tenants by the entireties after the marriage. Such a gift converts what would otherwi...

The Mehta Law Group, provides sound legal representation in the following areas: * Divorce, * Custody & Child Support * DUI/ Traffic * Contract/ Business Disputes * Real Estate Closings * Personal Injury * Landlord * Tenant Law *Forecloure Defense Flat fees and low hourly rates The Mehta Law Group 312-590-2000 info@mehtalawgroup.com

MEDIATION OR COUNSELING REQUIREMENTS: If the court concludes that there is a prospect of reconciliation, the court, at the request of either party, or on its own motion, may order a conciliation conference. The conciliation conference and counseling shall take place at the established court conciliation service of that judicial district or at any similar service or facility where no court conciliation service has been established. In an action for dissolution of marriage involving minor children, or in a post-judgment proceeding involving minor children, the court may on its own motion order the parties, excluding the minor children, to attend an educational program concerning the effects of dissolution of marriage on the children, if the court finds that it would be in the best interests of the minor children. [Based on Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 - Chapter 5 - Section: 404 and 401.1]

III. FAILED MARRIAGE The cases involving the distribution of a ring given in contemplation of marriage upon dissolution of a marriage have uniformly adopted the conditional gift theory. These cases apply contract principles. Such application almost always ends with the donee being awarded the ring. The cases often cite the three essential elements of an inter vivos gift: (1) a present intention on the part of the donor to make a gift to the donee; (2) the delivery of the property by the donor to the donee; and (3) the acceptance of the property by the donee. Upon acceptance, the donee's right to ownership becomes absolute in form. The courts further explain that there is a condition subsequent attached to the gift. In Lipton v. Lipton, 134 Misc. 2d 1076, 514 N.Y.S.2d 158, 159 (Sup. Ct. 1986), the court said: An engagement ring is a gift to which a condition subsequent, the fulfillment of the marriage agreement, is attached. . . . [A]lthough a gift made in contemplation of ma...