As soon as you begin to contemplate divorce, the realization of splitting half of the family net worth kicks in and you find yourself wondering if it’s even worth it. If you’re just going to end up having to work longer before you can retire that is a valid question.
There are ways to ensure that your financial future is not destined for disaster. First, be sure you involve a financial advisor with a CDFA™ designation. This is a professional who specializes in divorce so that you will be fully informed of all the creative settlement possibilities that may be open to you. You can find several CDFAs™ on this website! www.winwindivorce.org In addition, our CDFAs™ are trained in divorce mediation and collaborative divorce. This means they are looking out for your money as well as your family wellbeing. That is a big plus!
Typically, attorneys who litigate divorces will recommend splitting the assets 50/50. They rarely take into consideration alternative solutions to the asset division issue. (this is not the case with collaboratively trained attorneys who work alongside of CDFAs™)
As a financial neutral I prepare my clients to look at this process as an equitable division of assets vs an equal. Find a middle ground that works for both of you. It may not be exactly 50/50 but you aren’t arguing over penny’s while paying the attorneys dollars.
After gathering all of their financial documents and completing the analysis, a CDFA can put together two reports for the client. The first reflects an exact 50/50 split as an attorney might suggest. The second, a creative settlement solution that also resulted in a net 50/50 split but took into consideration tax planning and consequences as well as the needs of each party as they planned for the post-divorce phase of their lives.
A couple can come out ahead not only tax wise and asset wise but the process of divorce may cost less because you have moved forward instead of arguing over items that in the long run may not really impact you. This means more money in your pocket.
Don’t go into this blind. There are so many ways to ensure that both of you get to keep more of your own money. Get the right experts on your team. We’d love to help you! Call us today. 614-339-1000
This was submitted by Donald Morris, CDFA™ and financial advisor. Don is currently the President of winwindivorce.org