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Release Notes for Version 8.07 Build 368, released
October 26, 2006 In this release, we have improved data entry on
the Lawyer/Mediator tab, improved the presentation of several reports,
allowed you to specify which pages of a report you wish to print, and
made a number of calculation improvements.
Lawyer/Mediator Tab
Improved Assets & Liabilities Screen. We have added a live graph
of the property division. We have also reorganized the fields on the top
level assets and liabilities screen, to include value and percent
allocations, and to exclude all other fields. You have an option, at the
top of the screen, to change what is displayed at the top level
(including the live graph). Click the link at the top that says, Click
here to set Assets & Liabilities Screen Options. We also have added more
information to some of the more info links.
Improved Income & Expenses Screen. We have added a live graph of
after-tax cash on the income and expenses page. We have clarified and
simplified the entry of social security benefits.
Improved Alimony and Support Screen. We have added the ability to
enter alimony and support on the Alimony/Support screen. We have also
added a live graph of after-tax cash for both parties, which changes
instantly as you change the real numbers.
Simplified Background Info. We have simplified the top level of
the background information screen considerably. We moved a number of
fields that are not necessary for calculations to the "more info"
screen. We have also moved the tax filing status to this screen.
Links moved. We moved the links for "Professional Info", "Report
Options", "View Footnotes", "Modify Report Labels" from Case &
Assumptions to the More Reports screen. (The More Reports screen was
formerly named Addtl Financial.)
Reports
Report options. We have moved the report options for # years to
display on reports, and which partys or parties information to show, to
the Reports screen.
Pensions from outside firms. We have made it easier and clearer
to enter a pension valuation from an outside appraisal firm. Now there
is an X box which you may click to specify that you are getting a
pension appraisal from an outside firm.
Simplify division of Marital Property screen. We have simplified
the Negotiate screen for the Division of Marital Property. We have also
added a graph at the top that updates constantly. If you choose to
display an equalization payment, then the equalization payment graph
will appear, instead of the property division graph. You may get back to
the old screen by clicking the link for options at the top.
Printing page ranges. When you print, you may now specify a range
of pages to print.
Living expenses subtotals. On the Budget Report, we now show
totals for subcategories of living expenses: Household, Transportation,
Child, etc.
IRA assets. We have added a report of IRA assets, including
contributions, distributions, liquidations, and growth. So you can track
each IRA and see how we calculate what is happening.
Key Reports. We have changed the sequence of reports, to promote
Liquidations report, Budget report, and View/Edit tax report, to the Key
Reports group.
Financial Investments. We have improved the Financial Investment
Income report to show income for each investment.
Parties to Show. We moved the selection of which parties to show
to the Reports page from the Assumptions page.
Living Expense Subtotals. On the Budget Report, we added
subtotals for the Living Expense groups.
Budget Report. On the budget report, you may now display the line
items and totals side-by-side for each party, and for any time frame you
choose -- weekly, monthly, or annual.
Mortgage Balances for Financial Affidavits. For financial
affidavits, we made the reporting of mortgage balances and monthly
payments consistent across states and mortgage types. Now, we show the
monthly payment, even if the mortgage will end during the year, and even
if the mortgage is started part way through the current year. The
mortgage balance reported will be the current balance if you are using a
statement method, or the year-end balance if you are using the detail
method. For refinancing mortgages, we are reporting the new mortgage
balance, whereas previously we were reporting the previous mortgage
balance.
Marital and Separate Property Report. On the Marital and Separate
property report, we added a number of options. It is now possible to
display totals only, without allocations to either party.
Division of Marital Property Report. On the Division of Marital
Property report, it is now possible to print with or without
percentages, and with or without dollar amounts. You may now customize
this report to a great extent.
Totals Button. The Totals button when you have indicated that
your profession is an attorney or mediator now displays Summary Totals
report.
Affidavit Assets and Liabilities. We have changed the default
display of the assets and liabilities of the generic financial
affidavit. Now, unless you specify otherwise, we will display marital
assets, separate assets of one party, and separate assets of the other
party. You may change this by clicking a link at the top of the View and
Print Affidavit screen.
Calculations
Pensions for employees expected to work to retirement. We have
made a small tweak to the way we calculate pensions that are valued "as
if" the employee works until retirement. Previously, we did not discount
for the possibility that the employee would die between the evaluation
date and retirement. This was on the theory that we should be consistent
with the hypothesis that the employee does work until retirement.
However, we have become convinced that it is more accurate to discount
for the possibility that the employee would die between the evaluation
date and retirement, since in fact that might happen. We have made the
change in such a way that existing valuations will not be affected. If
you want to use the new approach (which, again, only would cause a
change if the pension is valued "as if" the employee works until
retirement) click the link on "as if," at that line of the pension
screen, and "X" the box on the page that appears.
What-if calculations. "What if" calculations now do NOT assume
that there was no residence sale or refinancing. Previously, we had made
that assumption, because, when residence sales were being included in
after-tax cash, they were distorting the after-tax cash picture. And so,
previously, we had to assume that there was no residence sale or
refinancing in order to make the what if alimony and child support work.
We no longer have to do that, and so now the results from "what if"
should match the actual results, when the alimony and child support
numbers are the same.
Nontaxable alimony. It is now possible to specify that alimony
payments will be nontaxable to the recipient and not tax deductible to
the payer. To do that, simply X the relevant box on the Alimony screen.
IRA Distributions. Make View/Edit IRA distributions possible, so
you may specify whatever level of IRA distribution you want each year.
File Handling
New file dialog. When you start a new file, the dialog box will
ask you to enter the parties first names. This allows you to skip the
background information entirely, if all you want to do is to divide the
parties assets. You may proceed directly to the Lawyer tab >Assets &
Liabilities screen.
My Documents Folder. It is now possible to open and save files
into folders within in the My Documents folder.
New York Net Worth:
Statement of Support. On the Statements page, we added an option
to specify a total amount of support for all children, rather than
specifying a support amount per child.
Footnotes. We have added footnotes on all of the subtotals lines
of the Net Worth Statement.
Printing. We moved the link to "print" NY Net Worth Statement
chapters to the NY Net Worth Stmt group.
New Jersey Case Information Statement
Printing. We moved the link to "print" the NJ Case Information
Statement to the NJ CIS group.
Connecticut
Mandatory Expenses. We Improved the carries of mandatory
expenses, as well as FICA and Medicare expenses, to section 1A of the
Affidavit.
Moved Entries. We moved the "affidavit" entries on the "income &
expenses" page to the bottom to reduce clutter around income & expenses.
Interest-only mortgages on Affidavit. When interest only
mortgages appear on an affidavit, we now show the current year's monthly
interest. Previously, in an effort to show the "steady state, mortgage
payment, we showed what the mortgage payment was going to be when the
interest-only period ended.
Bugs fixed:
Mortgage Interest After Real Estate Sale. For a few weeks before
this release, we were continuing mortgage interest for tax purposes
after a real estate property was sold. That has been fixed.
Taxes for Guidelines. In several states in which federal taxes
are a deduction for guideline purposes, the calculation of taxes was,
for guideline purposes only, not factoring in the deduction for half of
self employment. That has been fixed.
Footnotes for Other Expenses. Footnotes for other living expense
lines are now working on the affidavit.
Mortgage Interest for Rental Real Estate. Mortgage interest on
the rental real estate now shows up as a direct offset against the
rental income, rather than as an itemized deduction.
NY Net Worth Printing. The New York affidavit was occasionally
printing the income information for the other party. That has been
fixed.
New York, Medical expenses. Medical expenses entered in the
Planner had not been carrying to the New York Net Worth Statement. That
has been fixed.
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