Attorney Christopher A. Pearsall

If a client in a Rhode Island divorce doesn't have the right perspective AND reasonable expectations about the outcome of the divorce then the divorce lawyer may need to brush up on his or her skills when it comes to explaining the workings of the Rhode Island Family Court System.

A good divorce lawyer is also experienced in the court's proceedings and is capable of explaining to his or her clients what he or she can reasonably expect from the court regarding their family law matter.

Ultimately every Rhode Island lawyer assisting his or her client with a divorce would like that client to be happy with his or her services. However, happy clients in divorce proceedings usually result from a client's realistic expectation of what might occur in their divorce proceeding.

A client's development of a realistic perspective regarding the outcome of their divorce or family law matter is directly to how well your Rhode Island divorce lawyer or lawyers has prepared you regarding the alternatives and possible consequences in your divorce matter.

Ultimately, in this arena, if you want to be a happy divorce client, or at least as happy as you can be as a client in a divorce matter, there is no substitute for experience. Only experience in the Rhode Island family courts can assist the client in developing a proper perspective on the family court and reasonable expectations regarding his or her family court matter. This includes more than a passing familiarity with the judges and their respective philosophies, respect for and contact with the various court clerks and understanding the role of each in the system.

Lastly, it is a culmination of a divorce lawyer's skill and experience, the lawyer's understanding of overriding practicalities and judicial discretion which may sometimes override regulatory concerns to promote judicial expediency, and the lawyer's ability to communicate these things to the client in a way he or she can understand that makes the client's perspective key to the Rhode Island divorce lawyer so that he or she can maximize the possibility of a happy client with a reasonable result.

Do you want to be a Rhode Island Divorce lawyer with happy clients?

Culminate Realistic Expectations through your skill and experience.

Do you want to be a happy Rhode Island Divorce or Family Law Client?

Take the time and effort necessary to engage a Rhode Island Family Law attorney with a reasonable rate and enough experience in divorce and family law to be honest and forthright with you so that you can be assured that you do not develop unrealistic expectations regarding the outcome of your matter or the pitstops along the way.

§ 15-5-16.1  Assignment of property is the statute that governs the treatment of gifts in a divorce proceeding.  This is, of course, subject to case law that interprets the statute and other legal principles that may be argued alongside the gift statute.

The statute states in pertinent part,

§ 15-5-16.1  Assignment of property. -

(b)  . . . The court shall not assign property or an interest in property which has been transferred to one of the parties by gift from a third party before, during, or after the term of the marriage.

This is an interesting statute to note. . . . among many others . . . yet consider this interesting affect on this Rhode Island statute when supported by case law.

EXAMPLE

During their marriage John is given a player piano by his friend Celia.  The piano works great and has several piano rolls that come with it that play perfectly with various holiday songs.  John is not all that technically inclined but his wife Genna becomes familiar with the piano and knows how to carefully change the rolls.  The piano is an antique and is in good shape.

John consults with his wife Genna and they decide to put the player piano in the livingroom.  John and Genna are married for 15 years and every year the piano became the center piece of each holiday and family gathering.  Genna changed the player rolls, decorated the piano for each holiday and family gathering, cleaned the piano and arranged for it to be tuned each year.  John paid for the tuning.

John and Genna are getting divorced in Rhode Island.  The piano is appraised at $35,000.   John claims that the piano was a gift and Genna is not entitled to any portion of it.  Genna argues that the piano lost its quality as a "gift" and came within the marital estate when John commingled it in the family gatherings and holidays and allowed Genna to assume the maintenance of it.  Once the player piano became such a primary focal point of the family and was maintained by Genna, it became a marital asset and came under the power of the court.

What do you think?  Should the commingling with the family and maintenance by Genna bring the player piano within the Rhode Island Family Court's power as being able to distribute the marital estate? 

If this statute about gifts exists and case law exists that states that commingling a non-marital item within the marital estate and the Rhode Island Judge's power of equitable distribution, which rule governs?  The statute or the case law?

Many Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers and parties within the divorces believe that things such as "gifts" are "simple", but are they really?