Becoming a Financial Victim If you suspect that your spouse is planning a divorce, make copies of all important financial records such as account statements (savings, stockbroker, real estate partnership) and data that relates to your marital life style (checking accounts, charge card statements, tax returns). If you believe that your spouse may liquidate or re-title marital assets, notify the holder in writing and get a restraining order from the court. Watch out for cash in joint checking, brokerage accounts or cash value of life insurance. If assets are taken, legal and forensic accounting fees could become excessive.

Not Considering Mediation

If assets are moderate, joint custody is workable and your spouse is agreeable to a fair settlement, mediation will save thousands of dollars in legal fees, emotional aggravation and provide more flexibility then the adversarial legal process. Mediation is a bomb when one spouse is hiding assets or income or is unwilling to consider the needs of the other.

Hiring a Combative Lawyer to Punish Your Spouse

This is a very bad idea for two reasons. First, except in extremely egregious cases, divorce settlements are determined by equitable distribution laws and courts will not punish your ex-spouse financially for being a bad person. Second, your attorney assumes carte blanche to increase hours spent on your case. High divorce costs mean less money will be leftover for living. Treat divorce as a business arrangement and get your revenge by living well post-divorce. (Click here to continue)

The use of financial planners in the divorce process is relatively new, but is a rapidly growing trend. The reasons for this are simple. The divorce process involves to a large extent the untangling and subsequent division of assets and income. Despite a lack of formal training in personal finance, attorneys and mediators have historically been thrust into the roles of financial analyst and adviser. This has been an area fraught with danger, both from the divorce professional’s and the client’s point of view. While accountants and actuaries have participated in the process, their services have usually focused on the valuation or investigation of assets, not on personal finance. (Click here to continue)

Divorcing clients need to make important economic decisions as they go through the process. If they make bad decisions, they will more than likely have to live with the consequences of those decisions, and these can be financially and emotionally devastating. Since there are serious pitfalls and difficult decisions to be made, people going through divorce need expert financial advice. While they have traditionally relied on the attorney or the mediator to provide such advice, and while many mediators and attorneys have come to accept this role, the requisite financial knowledge and skills are often outside their areas of training and expertise. This can potentially lead to problems. (Click here to continue)