Wednesday, 28 December 2011

The Secret to Optimizing Divorce financial settlements

Choosing the right Divorce settlement software is Indispensable

As a divorce lawyer I have had my share of praise from clients for whom I obtained the best divorce settlements . I have also fairly speaking, been blamed by quite a few clients for not obtaining the best divorce financial settlement for them. However, this is now a thing of the past. As any divorce lawyer knows, a divorce is messy, tangled, long drawn out, acrimonious and a complex web to resolve, what with calculating tax implication, distribution of assets and property, child support, spousal support, alimony payments and other calculations that can take up a day. The federal and state tax implications as well as factoring in credit card and bank statements can be a source of errors in computing divorce settlements . Creating “what if” scenarios took up so much of my time I frankly rushed through it. Not any more. I put in quite a lot of effort tracking down the right divorce settlement software that had all the features I needed for my practice and today, I find it absolutely indispensable not only for existing clients but also as a way to “grab” new clients.

Using the divorce settlement software I simply key in the basic data like income of spouses, children, number of children and their ages, details of assets and how a prospective client expects the case to go. I press a few buttons and presto, the software presents me with a number of “what if” scenarios from various angles. I show all these to a prospective client and he decides to retain me on the spot. I can further refine these calculations and come with the best tax optimized divorce financial settlement statement that will hold up in proceedings and be eventually acceptable to both parties. For me the secret to optimizing divorce financial settlement s is not having more people working on a case but choosing the right divorce settlement software .

No one would think that such a capable, extended and sophisticated software would have so simple an interface and be so very user friendly. It is all that and more. Entering data is easy. I do it only at one point and it automatically fills out forms and documents using this data at the relevant places. Corrections are just as easy. I can use the sophisticated features to play around coming up with the best combination of alimony buyout, pension valuation, alimony and child support as well as analysis. It shows me the after tax impact of alimony payments and spousal support. A client is concerned about paying spousal support and I can show him the exact amount he will need to pay after tax. It is wonderful the way this divorce settlement software has enabled me to prepare worksheets, charts, documents and forms as well as reports for my clients, for the opponent and for the court. I do all this, compile the entire case papers in one folder and review them, taking a print out where needed. I can save all these in Word or PDF format and port these to my smart phone for review. To tell the truth I get so possessive of this software I do not want it to fall in my competitors' hands!

Friday, 16 December 2011

Divorce Lawyers Leverage Computer Technologies to Get their Clients the Best Deal

Divorces can be complicated, messy and long drawn out bitter proceedings with acrimony over division of assets, child care and support and alimony payments. It needs all a divorce lawyer's finesse to work out the best calculations that will be in the interest of his client. Since there are so many options further complicated by tax angles, such calculations can eat into a lawyer's time and detract from his actual work. A divorce lawyer can be meticulous and consider all the possible contingencies or he can choose just a few and go through in which case his client may fare badly. Now divorce lawyers can leverage technologies to get clients the best deal through computer generated divorce settlements that present a number of “what if” scenarios. What makes divorce settlement software desirable and indispensable is that it integrates various State laws and rulings in respect of divorce proceedings and requirements of filing forms. Arizona has specific laws in this regard just as New York and Pennsylvania have their own regulations. A divorce lawyer has to consider federal laws and also the State laws when handling a divorce case.

All that divorce lawyers used to do manually or with the help of a spreadsheet can be done in a jiffy using the right divorce software. The software computes everything and comes up with answers and calculations in respect of:
  • Temporary or Permanent Alimony payments
  • Tax Implications
  • Tax optimized support payments showing after tax impact of child and spouse support with distribution of assets.
  • Tax optimized Child support
  • Equitable distribution of assets and liabilities with various scenarios, itemizing assets, bank accounts, automobiles and other property as well as pension and retirement plans, current liabilities like loans, etc. in various “what if” scenarios.
Divorce settlement software simply accepts inputs in the form of the prospect's income, his or her spouse's income, net disposable income desired and the ages of the children and outputs all calculations with tax implications relevant to the state where the case will be filed. Software like this helps divorce lawyers present an immediate summarized statement to potential clients and save a lot of cumbersome calculations as well as time and gain clientele. A divorce lawyer using this software can easily save a lot of time and energy, become more productive, get the best ruling for his client and also take on more cases. What lawyers appreciate about divorce software is that in case there is a potential client sitting across him who needs to know the various financial implications, all he has to do is to provide basic inputs. The divorce lawyer enters these in his laptop or desktop and the divorce financial settlement software comes up with detailed worksheets from all angles. A potential client knows immediately what he is in for and is likely to be converted to a client, impressed by the fast working and the various ‘what if' scenarios generated that minimize the burden on him through selection of the right option of divorce settlement .

The right divorce settlement software would naturally incorporate modules with tax codes and rules of all fifty states to arrive at the right divorce settlements for that particular state. With such a powerful and easy to use tool, divorce lawyers gain more clients; process more cases and become more productive, earning back the cost of the software in no time at all.

Friday, 9 December 2011

I Chose the Right Divorce Software

I chose the right divorce settlement software and my professional life, in some ways, is easier but I have more cases in hand now, thanks to this software, and am busier than ever. Of course, before zeroing in on that software I did carry out research and I am glad I did. My divorce settlement software, working alongside family law software, does everything I want it to do for my cases. It does all the calculations, and has simplified life for me. I would like other divorce lawyers to know about the features of this divorce settlement software.

It has, first of all, taken quite a load off me, relieving me of complex calculations involving child support, alimony, division of assets, property division and tax implications. I now simply factor in the relevant figures and come up with various possibilities. A possible client is sitting across me, I enter the figures with data he supplies and present him with a “what if” scenario in minutes. He is impressed, I have the case and we get to work.

I can now input data supplied by the client in one screen and then have the software display tax optimized settlements, alimony calculations, pension valuation, alimony buyout, asset and liability distribution, alimony analysis, lifestyle analysis, all in a couple of minutes. I can output this data to a worksheet or a Word file or a PDF file, email this from within the program to my client for review and even port it to my smart phone. What would have taken hours or days is now done within minutes, leaving me free to work on more cases. Everything is computerized so there is no margin for error. Corrections are easy too: correct at one point and all documents are automatically updated. All documents relating to a particular divorce case are compiled in one folder for easy access at any time in the future and for printing. Forms are automatically filled in and what is a nice feature is that these forms can be customized according to individual cases or the State where the divorce proceedings will take place. I simply love its intuitive, user friendly interface and menu system. What is astounding is that it has all the Federal and State tax calculations for all 50 states. I think this divorce settlement software is smarter than I expected it to be.

Though I have not yet used it, the vendor tells me this divorce settlement software is fully customizable to be in conformance with law which can be used while using AZ divorce law software, NJ divorce law, NY divorce law and PA divorce law so just in case I have a case in any of these states, I can work on them without needing an upgrade right there on my laptop. To be honest the vendor did give me a trial period to try out the divorce settlement software and I finalized the purchase after being fully satisfied. I am assured that future updates as and when introduced, will be available for me. Now what more do I need…may be a coffee.