1. Serves as the financial expert on your divorce team, working hand-in-hand with your divorce attorney.
Divorce attorneys specialize in handling legal obligations and family right laws. Financial planners can provide your attorney with the best possible information about your financial needs so that your attorney can negotiate the best possible settlement for you. By having someone who specializes in financial needs and can work with your lawyer, you are setting yourself up for the best potential outcome overall.
2. Levels the playing field for spouses who are less involved with the family finances.
It's important to realize that you may not be as involved with managing the family finances as your spouse. But that's no reason to be left in the dark. A divorce financial planner can help assess what your past finance situation has been like and can prepare you for your present and future situations.
3. Identifies and evaluates the assets & liabilities and assesses potential tax implications of each.
With 85% of a divorce being about the division of assets, the divorcing process is ultimately a financial transaction. A financial planner will evaluate the assets and determine whether it can be transferred between spouses.
4. Analyzes the short and long-term impact of proposed settlement offers.
Divorce financial planners project future net worth and cash flows for up to 30 years for each property. Financial planners are there to help you for the present as well as prepare you for the future.
5. Establishes a past and future budget.
A divorce financial planner can determine what your budget and standard of living was prior to the divorce while assisting you in the creation of a new budget for your post-divorce life.
6. Provides expert witness testimony in court to further support your case.
Although you hope your case doesn't have to go to court, if it does, it's good to have all the support you can get. If a settlement cannot be reached mutually, an attorney might specifically recommend bringing in an expert witness on your financial situation. It helps to already have someone who has been with you throughout your divorce process.
This article was published in South Magazine. To see this article click here.