Finance and Divorce

Nobody ever claimed that divorce is easy and anyone who says it is either hasn't experienced it or is lying. There are so many things that can contribute to a stressful divorce and the financial aspect of it is one of them. People can end up bickering over the tiniest of assets just to annoy the other party. If you've been married for many years there might be things you purchased together and neither of you want to give it up. There are assets, taxes, pension plans and refinancing after a divorce to consider.

Although there are many couples that seem to find a way of dividing up assets naturally, there are additional techniques of deciding who should get what. Think practically. The wife often wants to keep items such as furniture whilst the husband looks to keep things such as a pool table or DIY tools.

If neither party is all that fussed about the items in question they can simply be sold and the proceeds divided equally. If you are totally overwhelmed by the whole thing you can use a divorce mediator who will help you decide what to do. Don't confuse a mediator with a lawyer. They are totally neutral and cannot offer legal advice.

These days more and more married couples are taking out loans for all kinds of things including a home, car and then of course there are credit card debts. You will need to decide how these debts will be divided and what's involved in clearing the debts. A good idea is to order copies of your credit report from Experian, Equifax and also TransUnion. This will allow you to find out exactly how much money the pair of you owe. Sometimes one spouse can take out loans without the other knowing about it. If there are debts you really don't want them to get any worse so cancelling your credit cards can be a good idea. You also need to identify who is responsible for which debt.

Then there's the issue of a retirement plan. If your spouse has a retirement plan you should be entitled to half of it. You can take half out it but find out about the tax situation and also any early withdrawal penalties which might be on the savings account.

Bear in mind that when you first got married you would've trusted your partner 100% and never thought that they could do anything to harm you. However when it comes to getting divorced, some people can turn very nasty and will do all sorts of shifty things in order to keep as much money as possible.