One of the biggest complaints that people in Massachusetts have after a divorce is that they simply didn’t know enough in advance. Everything can be very stressful if you feel blindsided all of the time, and you may end up with an agreement that does not give you what you’re after. Below are a few things you need to know beforehand: 1. The real value of your property. Remember that values for many things—like homes or cars—could have changed dramatically since you bought them. 2. What you want to do with your home. You and your spouse have to decide if you’ll get it, if he or she gets it, or if it’ll be sold so that the money can be split up. Knowing this in advance helps you plan for the future and find a place to live. 3. What your expenses will look like after the split. People often forget about things like utilities, which they’re used to splitting, and they’re shocked by the cost of paying them on their own. Remember that the overall cost goes up when you both pay separately. 4. How each decision plays into the next. For example, one woman hadn’t properly calculated what her expenses would look like, so she thought she had an affordable home. It turned out to be more than she could afford, though, and she was forced to sell and move after the split. Don’t go into a divorce without as much information as you can possibly gather.

If you are divorcing your spouse, one term that you might encounter is Qualified Domestic Relations Order. Known as QDROs, these are decrees, orders or judgments for retirement plans to pay spousal or child support, or convey marital property rights to another person. To be valid, a QDRO has to contain very specific details, including: — Names of the plan participant and every alternate payee, along with their mailing address — The percentage or amount of benefits to be paid from the participant’s plan to the alternate payee(s) There are restrictions on QDROs as well, as none may award benefits or amounts that are unavailable under the provisions of the participant’s plan. When QDRO distributions are paid to minors or other dependents, the plan participant is the one with the tax liability. There are also ways to rollover all or portions of distributions from QDROs to make them tax-free. Your family law attorney is a good source to bring you up to speed on all that you need to know about Qualified Domestic Relations Orders. Make sure that you investigate these possible sources of income during divorce negotiations, as a regular divorce judgment will not be sufficient for you to receive any funds or distributions from the pension plan of your soon-to-be ex-spouse. Some divorcing spouses in Salem who both have pensions will agree to waive the right to each other’s benefits. In other circumstances, such as when one spouse wants to retain the marital home, he or she will