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FOX News and other media outlets continue to report that the divorce of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver could be among the most expensive celebrity splits on record.

Some estimates say Shriver could get more than the $100 million Tiger Wood’s ex-wife Elin Nordegren received.Division of marital property in a San Diego divorce, or a divorce elsewhere in California, is supposed to be equal under the state’s no-fault divorce law. In practice, one party to a divorce can end up with significantly more than half the assets for a number of reasons.

What constitutes community property is one potential area of contention. Property owned before marriage and inheritance to one spouse are both examples of separate property. Valuating community property is another area where a San Diego divorce lawyer will focus attention. For instance, is the marital home valued at current market value? After the economic downturn, a couple’s primary residence is often a liability — with more owed on an upside down mortgage than the property could bring at sale.

With Schwarzenegger and Shriver, there are more complications — and more assets — than in many marriages — even celebrity marriages. And, with allegations about Arnold’s infidelity continuing to surface, he may find an unsympathetic judge on the bench. And, with four children and the majority of the earning power, several media outlets have reported child support and alimony could easily top $100,000 a month.

Typical couples should understand the tax implications of alimony and child support as there may be opportunities to move money in one direction or the other. Alimony is treated as taxable income for the receiver and as a tax deduction for the payer. Child support is tax free for the recipient but not deductible for the payer. One caveat to keep in mind: Courts are much better about helping you collect back child support than they are about assisting with the collections of back spousal support.

In the case of Schwarzenegger and Shriver, their marriage will be seen as long-term under California law, which means she may collect alimony for an indefinite period of time. A short-term marriage is defined as one lasting under 10 years, which is in part why it’s not uncommon to see celebrity couples split near the 10-year mark.

Other factors worth considering in this split is Arnold’s future income from motion pictures — particularly sequels to movies made during the marriage. The New York Post reported last year that Diandra Douglas — the ex-wife of Michael Douglas — moved to collect on his payday for the making of “Wall Street 2,” claiming her divorce agreement entitled her to a portion of the proceeds.

For most couples, similar concerns often involve retirement accounts or the earning power of an advanced degree — such as a medical degree or law degree — earned during the marriage.
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Time.com recently posted an article titled: 5 New Reasons to Get (or Stay) Married this Year. What was their number one reason? Children of divorce pay more for college.

The article cites an analysis of student financial aid statistics which concludes, generally, that parents who are divorced contribute less to college expenses than parents who are married. And, even if a parent divorces and then remarries increasing their household income, they still contribute a smaller percentage of that income to college expenses. The article states that, according to the study, a college student with divorced parents pays an average of 58% of all college expenses, whereas a college student whose parents are still married pays only an average of 23% of all college expenses. For a college student whose parents divorce, and then remarry, the student pays an average of 47% of all college expenses.

As a San Diego family law attorney who handles child support cases, I have been asked whether a court can order a parent to pay for a child’s college expenses. In my experience, absent an agreement between the parents, a judge will not order a parent to pay for a child’s college expenses.

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As a San Diego family law attorney, many of my clients come to me with the goal of obtaining an order for child support. Many times, my clients do not know that generally, when a court makes an order for child support, the court must also make an order for health insurance for the supported child. Specifically, the court must order that either or both parents maintain health insurance for the supported child if that insurance is available at no cost or at a reasonable cost to the parent.

Because many of my clients do not have the benefit of health insurance at no cost, one question I am asked in child support cases is what will the judge think is a resonable cost for health insurance?

There used to be a rebuttable presumption that any employment-related group health insurance or other group health insurance was reasonable in cost. However, beginning January 1, 2011, this has changed. Now, there is a rebuttable presumption that any health insurance cost which does not exceed 5% of the parent’s gross income is reasonable. In determining whether the health insurance cost exceeds 5% of the parent’s gross income, we look at the difference in cost between self coverage and family coverage, and it is that amount that cannot exceed 5%.

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San Diego has a long and proud military history. San Diego, which started as a Spanish military outpost and continued to be a military town throughout the years, is currently home to numerous U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard facilities.

Whether you are in the military or married to a military service member the California Court of Appeals recently made a decision that will impact how support is calculated in divorces where one or both parties are in the military.

In the case of In re Marriage of Stanton, Mr. Stanton, a member of the US Navy, filed a request to modify support. At the time of the hearing, his base pay was $4,474.80/mo, Basic Allowance Housing (“BAH”) was $2,199/mo, Basic Allowance Subsistence (“BAS”) was $323.87/mo and special duty pay was $300/mo. The trial court included his military allowances as non-taxable income when calculating support stating, “If it looks like income, it is income no matter how it’s paid to you. And this court has always considered BAH and BAS to be income.”

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