Divorce And Your Money - #1 Divorce Podcast

This episode contains some lessons that many people learn as they go through a divorce. Here are four things to avoid as you go through the divorce process:   Don’t do anything shady. Don’t believe your ex-spouse about what is going on in your divorce. Don’t be oblivious about what is going on in your marriage and family. Consult an attorney for either your whole case or on a limited basis.   Some people try to get away with suspicious activity when going through a divorce. One of the most common examples is moving sums of money around or trying to hide assets. They may try to adjust their income in an effort to pay less support later. Avoid doing these things. It will probably come back to haunt you.   If you have not been in the loop with regards to the marital finances, you may still have a sense that there is something odd going on with your spouse. If you were the primary earner in the marriage, you may think you are being clever by hiding money, but your spouse is probably not oblivious to what you ar

Today we bring back guest Matt Sweetwood, to announce the release of his new book:   Leader of the Pack: How a single dad of five led his kids, his business and himself from disaster to success.   "I was unprepared, overwhelmed, broke, and often depressed and I was sure I would not live through the experience.    With five kids under eight years old to care for, a large business to run, a court system bent on bankrupting me, all I saw was a 20-year jail term ahead of me, ending with me old, broke, and broken…Finally, though, one day, it was over…”   Get it on Amazon now!   Available for Download: Feb 15, 2018 Soft Cover Available: Mar 8, 2018   Before you go, visit divorceandyourmoney.com: 1) Sign up for the email list to get exclusive tips you won’t find anywhere else. 2) To get access to the best divorce resources in the United States, check out the store here. 3) Get personalized help. Learn about coaching services here.   Thank you for listening!

What happens if you are going through a divorce and have digital assets? Digital assets can come in many forms. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are popular topics in the news lately, but there are other forms of digital assets like your music library, ebooks, rewards points, or even a website you own. When it comes to digital assets, state laws have not yet caught up. Many of these assets are relatively new, and the laws cannot always address all the complexities of splitting them. In addition, there are often unique elements about digital assets that make it difficult to know their value and how to split them.   This episode will give you some steps to take if you have any kind of digital assets. Figure out if you have any digital assets. Determine what is marital versus separate property. Figure out what you can realistically do with those digital assets.   Digital assets can be hard to find. In some cases, it may even be hard to realize that you have them. Some of you may have an online business, like this

This episode will explain why most of you will want to finalize your divorce in 2018, if possible. After 2018, divorce will be even more complicated than it already is. You probably already want an efficient divorce process, but the recent changes to tax law will provide some additional incentive to move things along. The change in tax law primarily concerns spousal support. Taxes are not a fun topic, but they are critically important to understand so you can make the best decisions for your situation. How you structure your divorce settlement can ultimately get you 20% to 50% more money and assets. For more about taxes and divorce, visit our archive. To understand what is changing this year, we first need to understand how spousal support has worked for the past 75 years. Currently, if you receive alimony, you claim it as income and pay taxes on it. The person who pays alimony receives a tax deduction for the amount of the alimony. For divorces that are finalized after December 31, 2018, the person who re

With the start of 2018, there is a lot you should be doing to prepare for divorce. This is a great introductory episode for you to listen to!    Learn more about all of the great Divorce and Your Money resources at divorceandyourmoney.com.

In the previous episode, we discussed the initial things you should do when you get your divorce settlement. You will need to study your settlement in-depth and create a calendar of all the dates and deadlines that will be coming. It will be important to stay on top of everything, even as your divorce is wrapping up, because there are a lot of small things to handle. It’s not quite time to rest yet. Listen to the previous episode for more details.   This episode will be about setting up your new life. You may not realize all of the things that you will need to take care of. Many of these things are tedious and boring. However, they’re very important.   Check your credit report. Set up new financial accounts. Update your will and estate planning documents. Check your beneficiary on all your accounts. Speak to a financial advisor. Speak to an accountant.   When you have finally gotten divorced, you will need to make changes to a lot of financial accounts. Regardless of your level of income, you should check y

Right now, a lot of divorce cases are rushing to a close. Most people want to finalize their divorce before December 31. The year that you are officially divorced is the first year you file taxes on your own. However, just because your divorce is wrapping up, it does not mean that the process is over.   In this episode and the next, we will cover what to do after your divorce is over. Your post-divorce tasks fall into two categories. You need to ensure you receive everything you agreed to (and that you give up everything that you agreed to). You also need to update all of the documents in your life to reflect your new situation. This episode will be about the first category.   Once you have the settlement in hand, you need to sit and study it, line-by-line. You want to find time when you will not have distractions. Take notes as well. Set up your notes with a column for what you need to do, what your spouse needs to do, and optionally, anything that your attorneys need to handle. As you go through the settlem

In this episode, we’ll discuss different types of divorce attorneys. Divorce financial analysts often work with a wide range of attorneys. They all have different styles. Many attorneys are excellent. In some cases, you may encounter an attorney that is not so good.   The goal of the divorce attorney or family law attorney is to have the best possible outcome in your divorce. What that outcome looks like will depend on your situation, but you want an attorney who will put you in the best position possible, whether it’s in terms of assets, support or child custody.   A bad attorney will hurt your chances of getting anywhere near what you deserve.   The attorney will be the most important person on your divorce team, other than you. They have the biggest effect on how smoothly your divorce goes. There are no hard-and-fast rules, but here are five types of attorneys you may want to avoid. The most expensive attorney. The “therapist” attorney (also known as the “best friend” attorney). The pit bull attorney. The

When you go to court, you may be going for a hearing or for a trial, and there are differences between the two. This episode will explain what happens in each situation.   Going to court is almost never like what you see on television. In particular, the process of going to court is not as glamorous as it seems on television.   When you go to court for a hearing, a judge will look at evidence and make a decision about a specific issue in the divorce. That evidence could be written documents, records, testimony, financial affidavits, and so on. The judge will make a decision on the issue in question after hearing the evidence. A hearing usually occurs while a case is still going on. It is not intended to resolve every issue in a case. A hearing can be for temporary issues, like temporary custody or spousal support. They may be used for a specific issue in discovery.   What happens at a hearing? You go to a court and go before a judge. Judges can vary greatly in age, race and background. Sometimes they are mult

This episode is about vocational experts in divorce cases. Vocational experts are only used occasionally, but they should probably be used more often. What is a vocational expert? Often during a marriage, one spouse was not employed. They may have lost their job or they may have decided to be a stay-at-home spouse. It does not necessarily mean that they were unable to work, however. A vocational expert will help answer the question, “How do you know how much income a spouse can earn if they have not been working?”   As an example, a female client has a husband who holds a PhD and was in the military, but who chooses not to work. The client herself is a doctor. The husband is trying to get spousal support so that he can continue to be unemployed and be supported by his ex-wife. However, this gentleman could easily get a job because he is highly qualified.   In another case, the wife worked for a while early in the marriage, making $75,000 a year. However, when the couple had children, she stopped working so th

Electronic evidence may come into play in your divorce case. Electronic evidence can be from your computer, phone, text messages, apps, cameras, bank accounts, and so on. Everything you do these days has a record. You may need to look for evidence of your spouse doing something they shouldn’t, like getting a hotel room. It’s increasingly common for people to leave an electronic trail that can come back to hurt them later. Most people forget that everything they do is tracked, one way or another.    As you go through the divorce process, keep these tips in mind.   1) Be aware that everything you do is recorded or could be recorded. 2) Do not try to hide assets. 3) Be aware that what you say or do can be taken out of context.   For example, if you make a threat during an argument or send a nasty text message, it can come back to haunt you. If you are about to say or do something that you might regret, take a step back and calm yourself down. All of your conversations on social media have a record of them, so th

In this episode, we’ll discuss tips for when you’re going to court for divorce, whether it’s for a hearing or for a trial. If you will be going in front of a judge for your divorce, you should be prepared. Try to avoid making some of the most common mistakes with these tips:   1) Real court is not like television. 2) Dress appropriately 3) Show up early, but expect to wait. 4) There are time limits. 5) Not everything you may want to cover is legally relevant. 6) Answer questions truthfully. 7) Don’t do something dumb in the heat of the moment.   Court is not glamorous or exciting. Don’t expect it to be like television shows.   It is important to dress appropriately so that you make a good impression. Dress business professional, like you would for a job interview at a large corporation.   It can take time to find parking and get through security, so allow ample time. Arrive at least half an hour in advance. Even if you are on time, you may have to wait to be seen.   Every court has rules as to how it proceeds

In this episode, we’ll cover five things your attorney must be doing for you. If they are not doing these things, your case may be in trouble. We offer a course on managing your relationship with your attorney, because it is one of the most important aspects in your divorce. You should be concerned if your attorney is not doing any of these things:   Your attorney does not return your phone calls, emails or messages quickly. Your attorney does not keep you informed on your case. Your attorney misses deadlines or waits until the last minute to file reports. Your attorney does not bill you regularly. Your attorney does not close the case when the divorce is over. This is inexcusable. If you contact your divorce attorney and they do not reply within a day or two, it is a bad sign. You should be able to expect them to at least reply quickly that they have received your message, even if they are having a busy day in court or are on vacation. They may not be able to give you a detailed response immediately if it

In this episode, we will discuss your involvement in the divorce process. You can have any number of experts helping you – lawyers, accountants, certified divorce financial analysts, valuation experts, social security experts, and so on. However, at the end of the day, it is your life and your divorce, so it’s up to you to stay on top of this process. Here are some of the major areas for you to be working on:   Complete your statement of net worth or financial affidavit. Make a budget. Document everything. Complete your interrogatories and depositions quickly and truthfully. If you are using experts, help provide context. Participate in your settlement negotiation.   This is one of the first steps you will need to take in your divorce process. You will need to get your financial information together for your attorney and other experts. If you make a mistake on your financial affidavit, it’s your fault. Get help with this if you need it, because the court will use your financial affidavit to determine things

“How much is my divorce going to cost?”    This is one of the biggest questions people wonder about when going through a divorce. In this episode, we’ll talk about four factors that will affect the cost, some of which are out of your control.   What you do during the process What your ex-spouse does during the process What your ex-spouse’s attorney does What the court does   You have control over your responses and decisions in the divorce process. If you are asked to complete a financial affidavit or if you are questioned in an interrogatory, you are responsible for answering truthfully. If you’re thinking about a settlement, you have to decide what issues are worth fighting for and what issues are worth letting go. This will have a significant impact on the cost of your divorce. Sometimes the smaller issues are worth letting go when you consider the big picture.   This is something that you cannot control, but it will certainly affect the cost of your divorce. You may find that your ex-spouse is not truth

This episode will cover the options you have if you own a business with your soon-to-be ex-spouse. Under normal circumstances, businesses are very complicated. When you are getting divorced, it is even harder. Because this is such a complicated topic, this episode will not be able to go in-depth, but we will cover the options that you have for dealing with your business in a divorce:   One spouse buys out the other. Both spouses continue to work in the business together. Walk away from the business entirely.   This is one of the most common options in the divorce world. One person retains ownership in the business, and the other no longer has any ownership, but they receive money for the value of their share. For example, let’s say you and your spouse co-own a gym, and your spouse wants to buy you out. How will that work? In a perfect world, you know the value of the gym, and you know the value of your shares. If the gym is worth $100,000, and you own half, your spouse will write you a check for $50,000. Wh

In an ideal world, it would take a minimal amount of time to go through a divorce. Unfortunately, in the real world, divorce is a slow process. Courts are packed, attorneys are slow, and the process often takes a year or two. However, it is possible to drag it out even longer, particularly if your spouse uses delay tactics. It can make your divorce more expensive and puts you in a much worse financial position. If your spouse is out to punish you, they can do so by dragging out the divorce.   This episode is about some tricks that your spouse may use to delay your divorce. Also listen to episode 147, where we discussed ways to combat some of these tricks.   Be prepared if your spouse uses any of these tactics against you: Your spouse fails to respond to discovery. Your spouse changes lawyers. Your spouse does not communicate at all. Your spouse brings needless motions.   Discovery is one of the most important parts of the divorce process. It is important to understand what each spouse’s financial picture lo

This episode will cover five easily-avoidable mistakes you may make during a divorce.   Do not get divorced without getting legal advice. Do not fail to verify budgets and statements of net worth. Do not assume your attorney will take care of everything. Do not try to get through the divorce without a support system. Do not assume you can change your divorce settlement later.   A lot of people think they can do a divorce themselves. Even if you are savvy, and your spouse is reasonable, you should still consult a lawyer. You may be able to hammer out 95% of the details on your own, but you want to make sure that you aren’t missing any steps. It can save a lot of time and headache later on.   This goes for both you and your spouse. You cannot guess on your personal statement of net worth or financial affidavit. Find exact, verifiable numbers. If you are incorrect, you could be accused of intentionally misrepresenting your finances, which can damage your credibility. Conversely, if your spouse is manipulating

This episode of the Divorce and Your Money Show is about child support. This one of the most essential issues of divorce when children are involved. We will answer some basic questions about child support in this episode.   What is child support?  It is a mandatory payment that occurs during divorce whenever there are minor children present (under the age of 18 or 21, depending upon your state). Child support lasts until the child is an adult. The only exceptions are some children with disabilities who require support into adulthood. From a tax perspective, child support is not taxable income to the person receiving it, and is not tax-deductible for the person paying it. This differs from spousal support – the person who receives spousal support pays taxes, and the person paying it receives a tax deduction.   Who gets child support?  The parent who has primary custody of the children receives child support. In the case of 50/50 child custody arrangements, there is usually one parent who is considered the guar

This episode of the Divorce and Your Money Show discusses the reasons to consider selling your house when getting divorced. Many people come into the divorce process with strong preferences on this issue because they have an emotional attachment to their house. This episode will help you consider all sides of the issue. It’s a good idea to think about the financial side, because your house is one of your biggest assets. Here are four reasons to consider not keeping the house. The house is a burden. Refinancing is complicated. Homes are expensive to maintain. You may end up worse off than you would have if you sold the house. After divorce, your income as a single person will be lower than it was as a couple, but your expenses will be similar. Given this reality, can you really afford to keep the house? A larger percentage of your income will be going towards your home payment. If your home payment is very low or you live very frugally, it may be possible, but for the vast majority of people, it is not a goo