DIVORCE AND MONEY

When considering a divorce, it is common to have questions about the impact such a decision will have on your finances. In a Collaborative divorce, there are experts who will help you gather the information you need to make decisions about money and your financial future. This is true whether you’re worried about how to separate the assets and debt, how to support two households, or how to plan for your future and that of your children.

Collaborative Practice’s neutral financial specialists (link to Collaborative Approach description of Team Practice) work with you to resolve your concerns around money and divorce. They are trained and licensed in their own financial field and they are also skilled at working with the other members of your Collaborative team (attorneys, coaches and child specialists) to help your family meet its goals.

While it may seem like bringing in another expert to support your divorce process would increase your costs, because you and your partner are working with a neutral while gathering data and identifying issues, you may actually preserve your financial resources.

The first step in looking at the family’s finances in the Collaborative process is to see what the family has typically spent on living needs in recent years, and what the result of that was. What income is available? Has the family been able to achieve any savings or retirement? Has spending exceeded the available income?

The next step is to answer the following questions:

• What will be reasonably needed for the financial support of both parents and children?
• How can the family take advantage of any tax benefits which are available to divorcing families, to maximize net monthly income?
• How can the assets and liabilities be divided so that both partners’ goals can be met?

Once you have answered these questions and gathered the information, you can work with your Collaborative team to explore creative options and make decisions that meet your individual and family’s financial goals.