Marital dissolution is a very challenging life transition. There are few events as complicated or overwhelming as divorce. Don’t let these important things fall through the cracks.
Ten Steps to Avoid when Starting the Divorce Process
- Knowing your entire financial picture including the family monthly expenses, debts and sources of income.
- Allowing your spouse to secretly remove your access to financial accounts and resources such as credit cards and home equity lines of credit.
- Neglecting to collect statements or detail on all financial information and assets while you are able to do so. This information includes listing bank accounts, stocks, bonds, the names of all businesses, insurance policies with cash value, retirement accounts, trusts to which either party or the children may be a beneficiary, intellectual property (i.e., patents, trademarks, copyrights), real property, other property of significant value (e.g., jewelry, antiques, art, etc.).
- Forgetting to update the beneficiaries and terms of your will and/or estate plan.
- Not transferring retirement funds per your divorce judgment once divorce is complete.
- Securing heirlooms and irreplaceable personal items.
- Changing your passwords to your email accounts, social media and other online accounts.
- Failing to change your address to a trusted relative or getting a P.O. box until you’ve secured a new residence.
- Oversight of the necessity of setting aside funds or obtaining a credit card in your name only. In divorce we often see marital funds cut off, frozen or access to accounts removed by one spouse.
- Failing to work with a financial planner during and following the completion of your divorce.
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