There’s a lot at stake in your divorce. One of the most important issues is your finances. If you improperly navigate your marriage dissolution, then you could be left without the resources needed to establish the post-divorce life that you want. After all, your financial positioning can impact where you live, what you can do, and how you raise your children, leaving you stressed about what your future will look like.
Although all of that can be worrisome, there are steps you can take to protect your financial interests. You just have to be diligent in how you develop your marriage dissolution strategy so that you can protect your interests as much as possible. But how, specifically, can you do that? Let’s dive in to take a look.
If you want to protect your financial positioning post-divorce, then you have to be proactive in developing your divorce strategy. This includes doing the following:
- Inventorying the marital estate: While you should secure your equal share of the marital estate, you’re only going to get what you deserve if you know what’s truly in the estate. If you don’t take a thorough inventory, then you could miss out on obtaining key financial assets that would otherwise position you for financial success in the next stage of your life. So, be thorough in figuring out the extent of your marital assets.
- Accounting for insurance: A lot of individuals have insurance coverage through their spouse’s employer. But when divorce occurs, these individuals are suddenly left to fend for themselves on the open market to secure insurance. This can be more costly than anticipated, with some insurance plans costing hundreds of dollars per month. You’ll want to take these costs into account when negotiating property division and spousal support.
- Gathering financial records: You need a realistic perspective of your marital finances in order to secure your fair share. One way to do this is to analyze all financial records, including your bank statements, tax returns, employment benefits, estate planning documents, insurance policies, and any valuations conducted on a business or pieces of personal property.
- Opening your own bank account: If you and your spouse have a joint bank account, then now is the time to open your own account. This will make it easier to separate your finances during the divorce process and ensure that you have funds to rely upon once your divorce is finalized. Just make sure you’re clear with your spouse as far as opening your own account and how you intend to separate your finances.
- Focusing on debt division: You don’t want to leave your marriage with more than your fair share of debt. So, talk to your spouse about dividing debt and then try to move your portion over to an individually held account. That way you’re not at risk of your spouse running up debt on a jointly held account that you’re then going to be on the hook for paying back, at least in part.
Be prepared to confidently walk into your divorce
The way you approach your divorce can have a tremendous impact on your future. That’s why it’s crucial to have a strong game plan before sitting down for negotiations or stepping into court to litigate the key legal issues before you. This requires knowledge of the law and compelling evidence, which is why now is the time to get to work thinking about the best way to develop your divorce arguments.