Southport Connecticut Family Law Blog

As you enter into your divorce proceedings in Southport, you likely have already resigned yourself to the fact that you will likely lose (or at least see your ownership diminish in) some assets. You may not be ready, however, to include your 401k amongst them. While the contributions made to your retirement account during your marriage do come from marital income, they still came as a result of your individual effort. Thus, your desire to not divide them with your ex-spouse is understandable. There may even be a way for you to keep the entirety of your 401k account in your divorce settlement. 

The 401k Help Center suggests that if you want to retain your full 401k, you should consider giving up another asset to your spouse in exchange. The asset you relinquish your claim over, however, must be of comparable value. Finding such an asset may be more difficult than it sounds due to the complexities of trying to estimate exactly how much your 401k will be worth when you reach the age of retirement. 

For many people in Connecticut, a dog or a cat might be the fur baby of their dreams. Pets today are more and more looked upon as treasured members of a family, not just creatures that live in the barn or in the dog house in the corner of the back yard. While this can be very positive in most situations, it can make the decision about who gets the pet when a couple gets divorced very difficult. 

Rover.com explains that a divorce is not just hard on the spouses who are splitting up but also on the family pet. Dogs, for example, love their routines and can become quite upset when things get turned upside down. They might even have potty accidents or act out in other ways, much like a small child who is exhibiting emotional distress during a parental divorce.

There are several different ways to add a new child to your family through the process of adoption. However, according to FindLaw, the laws that govern adoption vary by state. This means that the adoption methods available to parents in other states may not be legal in Connecticut. 

Adoption in Connecticut often takes place through an agency that facilitates the process. Either domestic or international adoptions can take place through an agency, though an individual agency may handle either one or the other exclusively. This is something that you should investigate prior to choosing to work with a particular agency.

If you are unable to have children of your own in Connecticut, you may be considering adoption. There are many avenues you can take with adoption, and using an agency is a popular choice for many parents. Whether you adopt an infant or an older child, you will be able to choose whether to have an open or closed adoption, so it is a good idea to know what each one means and their implications.

According to the Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Libraries, an open adoption is one in which the birth mother or parents are able to keep in contact, and even visit, with the adopted child after the adoption is final. An open adoption may include visitation rights for not only the natural parents, but also for a sibling or grandparents. In a closed adoption, the natural or adoptive parents do not share any identifying information, and there is no ongoing contact.