Division of assets during a divorce was the major topic of the Community Legal Forum on family law hosted by the Bradley County Bar Association at the Cleveland Bradley Public Library on Monday.

Attorney Jack Tapper served as moderator for the forum with attorneys Philip Jacobs, Barrett Painter and Jerry Hoffer.

Before the discussion, Tapper set some ground rules that the discussion would deal with general issues not specific cases.

To start, Tapper asked the panel what they considered the most prevalent issue in family law.

Jacobs said one of the most common cases are those involving unmarried parents and divorce cases.

In Tennessee the law only recognizes the mother of an infant born to an unwed couple until a court order is passed declaring the father, Painter said.

Although Hoffer agreed these were prevalent, he said financial problems play a major role in a lot of cases. He commented that in many divorce cases couples want to split the debt in an unequal way.

“Lawyers now today are more problem solvers than just an advocate in court,” Hoffer said

Jacobs said the difficult task in a divorce situation is getting the couple to agree on how to divide their property, money and debt.

This is especially the case when a marital dissolution agreement is being filled out in a no-fault divorce.

“When you have an irreconcilable differences divorce, technically no fault that basically means you can’t agree on anything in life so you want a divorce, then you have to agree on every single thing to get a divorce,” Jacobs said. If there are children involved, this goes beyond assets to include formulating a parenting plan for when the children will see each parent.

Painter said the dissolution agreement also addresses any alimony, retirement accounts and pensions the spouse may have legal rights to.

Hoffer said it is possible for couples to fill out this agreement on their own with a form from the legal services website (http://www.selegal.org/divorce%20self-help.htm). However, Hoffer said it is important to think of everything when filling this out, such as debt that will come into repayment after the divorce. He said attorneys offer experience that an individual does not have on their own.

Throughout the forum, the panel took questions from the audience. One had to do with property and inheritance. Painter said whether a piece of property was a marital residence would decide if it was shared property or not.

Debt could also be considered only one spouse’s debt if it was accumulated gambling or on unnecessary things for that spouse only.

Another person asked if Tennessee recognized common law marriages. Hoffer said the state of Tennessee does not recognize common law marriages unless the couple had a common law marriage in another state before moving to Tennessee.

The forum also addressed a question about alimony. Painter said there are different types of alimony including permanent and temporary.

Permanent alimony would be given in a long-term marriage being dissolved where the ex-spouse is unable to return to the workforce. Temporary serves as a transition to provide for the ex-spouse while they transition to full-time employment. Some types of alimony can be changed if circumstances change, but this is not true in all cases. Hoffer said alimony is complex, and not everyone agrees on how it should be handled.

Hoffer said while fault can not pay a part in the division of assets it can be a factor in whether alimony is granted. There is a list of 14 factors a judge considers in alimony cases such as a need, ability to pay, educational level, fault and division of assets. The attorneys said different issues arise when one of the people involved is a veteran. There are certain things that have to be included in the disillusionment agreement in order for the ex-spouse to benefit from them once these benefits are being drawn.

These forums will be held on a quarterly basis with the next one being considered for February. A topic has not been chosen.