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Getting Divorced Cost This Woman Nearly $1 Million In Retirement Savings — How To Avoid Her Fate

Posted On: September 22, 2020

Michelle Buonincontri lost about $1,000,000 of her retirement savings because she did not understand the difference between separate property and what became marital property.  She used the home that was originally her own home to help an ailing parent.  However, when it came time to divorce, that entire home, notwithstanding how it was utilized to finance her parents medical needs, was considered marital property and her husband was entitled to his equitable share of same.  Once again this drives home the importance of not only understanding the difference between separate property and marital property and commingling what may have been separate into marital (that can occur consciously or not) but the need for either a Prenuptial Agreement or an Agreement that specifies with respect to certain items that you do not ever want to become marital, such as business assets as well as private or separate property that was accrued prior to the marriage.

Selected excerpt(s) and linked article courtesy of Market Watch.  Selected picture courtesy of Michelle Buonincontri.

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VICTORY! Same-Sex Spouses Nationwide Gain Equal Access to Social Security Survivor's Benefits

Posted On: September 15, 2020

This is a tremendous victory for same sex couples who lost a spouse, only to find they were not married for the required 9 months (although they may have been together for decades before marriage was legal) and were denied social security survival benefits!

While the number of states that allowed same-sex couples to marry gradually increased from 2004 until 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all remaining state bans, that freedom came too late for many couples. Even where same-sex couples married as soon as they could once their state marriage bans were lifted, many were unable to be married for nine months before one spouse died, and SSA denied them benefits for not being married for long enough.

Selected excerpt(s), photo and linked article courtesy of Lambda Legal.

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Victory! Court Rules State Department Violated Law in Denying Passport to Married Same-Sex Couple’s Daughter

Posted On: September 08, 2020

A federal court in Georgia recently ordered the Trump Administration to recognize the U.S. citizenship since birth of Simone Mize-Gregg, the two-year-old daughter of a married same-sex couple, and to issue her a U.S. passport. The U.S. State Department had refused to recognize Simone as a U.S. citizen, even though both of her parents, Derek Mize and Jonathan Gregg, are U.S. citizens and children born abroad to heterosexual married U.S. citizens are automatically considered U.S. citizens themselves.

Click here to read more about this landmark victory!

Selected excerpt(s), photo and linked article courtesy of Lambda Legal.


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179 New Funny Tweets That Show What Marriage Is All About

Posted On: August 31, 2020

I wanted to share these funny tweets from some married folks.  It's always best to find the humor in life and in relationships, and we could all use a good laugh right about now!  It’s no secret that to keep any long term relationship going you need to put the work in.  It’s one thing to meet the love of your life and be in bliss and a whole other thing to commit to a lifelong healthy partnership and make it a happy and healthy success.  Communication, laughter and finding humor together makes the journey easier and life so much more fun!

Selected excerpt(s) and linked article courtesy of Liucija Adomaite and Justinas Keturka
Selected photo courtesy of Matthew Burnside/Twitter

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Lesbian Baker in Detroit Got Homophobic Cake Order: Why She Made It Anyway

Posted On: August 25, 2020

A customer of a well known black lesbian owned bakery in Detroit attempted to bait the owners into reverse discrimination by requesting a cake online with a homophobic message. The customer, an employee of a Ferndale-based, conservative Catholic organization — a group that broadcasts pro-life, anti-gay, anti-feminist, Islam-fearing, human-caused-climate-change-denying orthodox Catholic, was surprised when the owners not only made the cake, pursuant to their online ordering regular requirements, but attached a note responding with a message of love good wishes and inclusion for all!

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7 Things to Do ASAP When Your Spouse Wants a Divorce

Posted On: August 18, 2020

This article gives some good advice.  The very first thing someone facing a divorce should do is finding or hiring a good attorney.  I would recommend that you hire a good collaborative attorney.  It is always better to go through the collaborative method which approaches divorce from a holistic perspective of helping you and your family survive the dissolution of your marriage, both financially and emotionally.  It requires full disclosure and transparency as the law requires.  You will work with a team of professionals to help you through that process.

The other good tips in this article include monitoring your credit report, taking an inventory of all your assets and liabilities, and do what is necessary, depending upon your circumstances with respect to protecting your financial future.

Selected photo courtesy of 4 PM production/Shutterstock.com.  Selected linked article courtesy of Emmet Pierce, MoneyTalksNews.

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Simply Stunning - Colorized Footage of New York City in 1911

Posted On: August 10, 2020

I just love historic pictures, especially of places we know and of our favorite cities.  Needless to say, New York City is one of mine, along with Antwerp and Brugge, just to mention a few.  This article has some beautiful footage of actual film taken from New York City in 1911, how cool!

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7 Black Queer Couples Share Their Best Relationship Advice

Posted On: August 03, 2020

Black lesbians are probably the most marginalized communities in the US.  This is a refreshing article on the positive outlook of black lesbian relationships as well as their best advice on how it works and how to make it last.  For most of us, what we learned in school about history actually reflected only white male history.  Minorities, including women (and especially the lesbian community), as well as the minority communities within the lesbian community, are extremely marginalized and were never part of mainstream education.  It's time for us all to embrace diversity. 

Photo courtesy of Thinkstock.

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