Love often comes before marriage, and when two Utica residents decide to commit themselves to each other through a legal union, their admiration for each other can cloud some of the more challenging decisions and negotiations they will have to face once they are joined under the law. For example, they may enter into their marriage without having a clear understanding of each other’s financial situations and monetary needs.
These money-based issues can become exacerbated as the couple’s time together increases and as they add children to their union. For some couples, disagreements over money can become so volatile that the couple may decide that it is in their best interests to end their marriages through divorce. However, even in divorce, those couples may realize that they still cannot avoid working through the financial issues that plagued them during their relationships.
When divorcing, couples can benefit from deepening their understanding of their family’s financial health and needs and preparing for splitting wealth to benefit both the divorcing parties and their kids. The parties should know what their overall net wealth as a family is and should have certain documents prepared, such as qualified domestic relations orders, that will split certain retirement investments between the parties to the ending marriage.
The partners to a divorce
should also both understand where their money was spent during their marriage so that they can best plan for how to continue to meet their financial obligations once their marriage ends. In couples where one partner handles all of the financial matters, the other may benefit from studying their accounts and investments to know what has to be divided when it comes time to settle property and investment matters.
On many levels, a divorce can be an overwhelming process. It splits the lives of two people who once committed themselves to each other and may cause significant upheaval in the lives of their children. However, with careful planning and the help of a dedicated family law attorney, many individuals can weather the financial storms that arise when their marriages meet their legal ends.
Source: fayobserver.com, “Divorce & Investments
,” Tracy Sorzano, Feb. 23, 2017