I thought today I would go over some tips an article online give on how to save money during a divorce. According to the article, divorce rates usually fall during a recession because people can not afford to go through the process. But for the ones who can not wait and must go through a divorce, the process does not have to mean the destruction of their finances.
1. Follow the money. If you don’t know much about your spouse’s finances, look into it. Any financial documents will be of help. Examine and make copies of any of the financial documents you can get a hold of, so that you won't have to fight tooth and nail to get a copy of them later on.
2. Look into your spouse’s business. When a spouse is self employed it can be very challenging to determine the actual income that the business is making. If your spouse owns a business with much money at stake, think about hiring an accountant to go over the company financials (an attorney may know of a good one). The accountant will ask for documents that show the businesses assets and debts.
3. Protect your flanks. You’ll need personal money during the time it takes to settle the divorce. It may be wise to keep some money in a separate account of your own, instead of jointly as a couple and have a separate credit account.
4. Figure out of you brought any separate property into the marriage. You can normally take inheritances and any pre-marital personal savings away with you as long as it stayed in your separate name.
5. Go after the pension and retirement accounts. Individual Retirement Accounts, 401(k)s, and pensions all have to be divided.
6. Fight for health benefits, when you don’t have your own group plan. If your spouse carried the family coverage, you can usually stay in that plan, at your expense (or your ex’s expense, depending on the agreement), for up to three years.
7. Get financial planning advice from the beginning.
8. Don’t battle with your spouse. The more you fight, the more you spend on legal fees. If there are no children and few assets, you can usually complete the divorce without too much argument.
If there are any legal questions you may have, I encourage you to, please contact my San Jose Divorce Lawyers office. My San Jose Family Lawyer offices assists many people who are going through family law related issues. We have many Affordable San Jose Divorce Lawyer solutions for many different budgets. We help many individuals through this very chaotic period in their life. Proudly serving the following cities, Fremont, Milpitas, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Mountain View, and Santa Clara.
Author's Notes
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Risks of Do It Yourself Divorce
I recently found an article regarding the woes that can follow if you use a “do-it-yourself” website to help you complete your divorce paperwork.
It's an all too common scenario when the parties think that to save money they will go to a paralegal or go to a document preparation company to get the forms and do their divorce themselves. Unfortunately when a problem arises or something did not go as planned the paralegal or document preparer can not offer by law any legal advice. The do it yourselfer is now left to wonder what to do.
Another common scenario arises when the do it yourselfer has completed their divorce and believes since it was accepted and processed that everything is fine. While it may be fine and done correctly, there are countless other times that the problems only arise years later when legal rights are affected by the mistake in some paperwork that was submitted or not submitted to the court.
Divorces that are completed without attorneys can be a problem. If a spouse does not complete the paperwork correctly, it can leave you liable for expenses held jointly with their ex-spouse. And sometimes after a divorce, one or both of the parties will remarry, move, etc. This is where the problem regarding the divorce paperwork will appear.
Sometimes paying an attorney can save you money in the long run (even with an uncontested divorce). This is because you learn your rights, receive guidance, and learn what to expect. For couples who can’t agree on anything, legal representation is crucial. Websites that show you how to complete the paperwork yourself make it look easy, but the reality is that the forms for dissolving marriage can become overwhelming. Also, many of these websites are not staffed by divorce lawyers, but by legal assistants.
If there are any legal questions you may have, I encourage you to, please contact my San Jose Divorce Lawyers office. My San Jose Family Lawyer offices assists many people who are going through family law related issues. We have many Affordable San Jose Divorce Lawyer solutions for many different budgets. We help many individuals through this very chaotic period in their life. Proudly serving the following cities, Fremont, Milpitas, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Mountain View, and Santa Clara.
It's an all too common scenario when the parties think that to save money they will go to a paralegal or go to a document preparation company to get the forms and do their divorce themselves. Unfortunately when a problem arises or something did not go as planned the paralegal or document preparer can not offer by law any legal advice. The do it yourselfer is now left to wonder what to do.
Another common scenario arises when the do it yourselfer has completed their divorce and believes since it was accepted and processed that everything is fine. While it may be fine and done correctly, there are countless other times that the problems only arise years later when legal rights are affected by the mistake in some paperwork that was submitted or not submitted to the court.
Divorces that are completed without attorneys can be a problem. If a spouse does not complete the paperwork correctly, it can leave you liable for expenses held jointly with their ex-spouse. And sometimes after a divorce, one or both of the parties will remarry, move, etc. This is where the problem regarding the divorce paperwork will appear.
Sometimes paying an attorney can save you money in the long run (even with an uncontested divorce). This is because you learn your rights, receive guidance, and learn what to expect. For couples who can’t agree on anything, legal representation is crucial. Websites that show you how to complete the paperwork yourself make it look easy, but the reality is that the forms for dissolving marriage can become overwhelming. Also, many of these websites are not staffed by divorce lawyers, but by legal assistants.
If there are any legal questions you may have, I encourage you to, please contact my San Jose Divorce Lawyers office. My San Jose Family Lawyer offices assists many people who are going through family law related issues. We have many Affordable San Jose Divorce Lawyer solutions for many different budgets. We help many individuals through this very chaotic period in their life. Proudly serving the following cities, Fremont, Milpitas, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Mountain View, and Santa Clara.
Tips to Think About Before Meeting with a Divorce Lawyer
Here’s an article with some tips on how to be prepared prior to meeting an attorney regarding a possible divorce.
According to the article, most experts recommend being transparent and upfront with your financial information. That way when determining how to split the finances equitably the parties can not spend extra money digging for information.
One of the big concerns during divorce is housing. Many couples own their homes jointly and the recent decline in property values makes the typical home much harder to sell. Not too long ago, buying a spouses share of the home was an option, but can now be problematic because of the banks have tightened up their lending requirements.
Healthcare has been a problem in recent years. With more of the cost of healthcare falling on the employee many people can no longer afford to buy into their company plans.
Whether considering divorce or not, you should pull your credit reports. This may let you know if your spouse has a credit account that you don’t know about. Something like this or identity theft could holdup refinancing a property as part of the divorce settlement.
A helpful tip is to be prepared for the worst by keeping up-to-date on the financials.
The article has a great list of data you should have on hand before your attorney asks for it:
1. Financial statements for both parties
2. 3 or more years of income tax returns for both parties
3. Details regarding investments
4. Employee benefit/retirement information
5. Information regarding your mortgage(s)
6. Most recent paycheck stubs
7. List of assets
8. List of debts
9. Bank account statements (joint and separate)
10. Credit card statements (joint and separate)
If there are any legal questions you may have, I encourage you to, please contact my San Jose Divorce Lawyers office. My San Jose Family Lawyer offices assists many people who are going through family law related issues. We have many Affordable San Jose Divorce Lawyer solutions for many different budgets. We help many individuals through this very chaotic period in their life. Proudly serving the following cities, Fremont, Milpitas, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Mountain View, and Santa Clara.
According to the article, most experts recommend being transparent and upfront with your financial information. That way when determining how to split the finances equitably the parties can not spend extra money digging for information.
One of the big concerns during divorce is housing. Many couples own their homes jointly and the recent decline in property values makes the typical home much harder to sell. Not too long ago, buying a spouses share of the home was an option, but can now be problematic because of the banks have tightened up their lending requirements.
Healthcare has been a problem in recent years. With more of the cost of healthcare falling on the employee many people can no longer afford to buy into their company plans.
Whether considering divorce or not, you should pull your credit reports. This may let you know if your spouse has a credit account that you don’t know about. Something like this or identity theft could holdup refinancing a property as part of the divorce settlement.
A helpful tip is to be prepared for the worst by keeping up-to-date on the financials.
The article has a great list of data you should have on hand before your attorney asks for it:
1. Financial statements for both parties
2. 3 or more years of income tax returns for both parties
3. Details regarding investments
4. Employee benefit/retirement information
5. Information regarding your mortgage(s)
6. Most recent paycheck stubs
7. List of assets
8. List of debts
9. Bank account statements (joint and separate)
10. Credit card statements (joint and separate)
If there are any legal questions you may have, I encourage you to, please contact my San Jose Divorce Lawyers office. My San Jose Family Lawyer offices assists many people who are going through family law related issues. We have many Affordable San Jose Divorce Lawyer solutions for many different budgets. We help many individuals through this very chaotic period in their life. Proudly serving the following cities, Fremont, Milpitas, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Mountain View, and Santa Clara.
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