Managing Bonus Income Issues In Divorce

If you or your soon-to-be ex has a job where you may receive bonuses, you may not think that the money will affect your divorce at all. If it’s a bonus, that means it’s outside your normal pay and therefore outside the family court’s purview, right? Wrong.

Bonus income can affect every financial element of a divorce, from initial settlement to alimony to child support. At AttorneyBernie.Com, our lead attorney Bernie Kempen is a certified family law specialist (certified by The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization). We are able to provide guidance and insight into complicated divorce matters like bonus income issues.

How We Deal With Bonus Income

Whether you are the one with the bonus income or not, you will want to know what to expect. Bonus income is generally factored into each financial aspect of a divorce or separation. It affects:

• Initial settlement. If you get divorced in the last quarter of the year, and you or your spouse has already received bonuses, that bonus income may be considered community property and therefore subject to division.
• Child support. In calculating child support, all income is considered.
• Spousal support. Similarly to child support, bonus income is included in considerations for spousal support.

The financial part of divorce can be especially stressful. However, as a firm, we often try to be as collaborative as possible when dealing with the other side. Working together allows us to be more efficient and often get better results for our clients. This is also true when bonus income is a consideration in a divorce. We can work with the other side to divide bonus income in a way that is amenable to both sides.

Reach Out Today

If you have questions about division of assets, including bonus income, chat with us below, or send us an online contact request. We will be in touch as promptly as possible.