What About the Finances?

One of the most Important questions to ask if you are thinking about a divorce is what about your finances? This is especially important if you have not been involved with the finances. That happens quite often, because there is usually one person in the marriage who is more focused on the finances.

How much is your house is worth? What your cars are worth? How much do you have in your retirement plan or your spouse's? These are things you need to start investigating. In fact, there are many seminars out there, particularly for women, to help them to start looking at these things. If you are getting divorced and you haven't worked for a number of years, then you need to know how you're going to support yourself. While that's not necessarily a good enough reason to stay in the marriage, the financial reasons, financial dependency, you need to make plans.

There's no question that in today's world it is more expensive to raise children, but it is also more expensive to raise yourself. 

So, you need to think about how you're going to make a living. Can you get back in the workforce? How quickly? Do you need to go back to school? Do you need to figure out a way to improve yourself in your own career? These are things that can be a little complex and probably can't be done overnight, but at least you can start thinking in that direction.

If you can't get to a seminar, sit with a financial expert. Many financial advisors don't charge for initial consultations. If you have a CPA, they are good at helping you look at everything. One thing that happens with CPAs and financial advisors is that they will probably be the biggest opponents to nasty divorces because they know what happens to your finances. There's an old saying, “Your money can go to support your lawyer's college education for their kids, or your own kids' college education.” The financial advisors will advise you that, if there's a way to not have a big fight, then you should do that.

The decision divorce process requires knowing that you have worked on your marriage and gathering an understanding the family finances. In my next blog, I will talk about what to look for in hiring a divorce attorney