Frequently Asked Questions

Most financial planners and accountants excel in their chosen field, but they have little to no training specifically related to the financial issues, divorce or mediation process, and divorce laws that need to be contemplated as you navigate the financial aspects of your case.

Often, when you ask for assistance, they can’t provide the needed information—or even worse, they’re unaware that they don’t have the required knowledge and find out what they should have known only after your divorce has been finalized.

Additionally, your current CPA or financial advisor has worked with both you and your spouse up to this point, acting as a neutral third party. Turning to them in times like these may become a conflict of interest, putting them in an adversarial position.

If you are considering or currently navigating a divorce you probably have a lot of questions, most of which boil down to, “Am I going to be OKAY?”. Reality is that everyone’s definition of okay is different and everyone’s idea of fair is different. Building a competent and trustworthy team of advisers that can help you determine what OKAY and FAIR really mean to your family is crucial in this emotional time of your life. There are really three parts to every divorce: the Legal, the Emotional and the Financial. You need an attorney to provide legal advice. You need a Mental Health Professional to help you navigate your emotions. You need Collaborative Divorce Strategies to provide financial advice and post-divorce financial planning. We become part of your divorce team working alongside your attorney to provide guidance, education, support and analysis of financial issues to help you make rational and informed decisions.

If you’re considering or currently navigating a divorce you probably have many questions, most of which boil down to, “Am I going to be okay?”

The reality is that everyone’s definition of “okay” is different, and everyone’s idea of “fair” is different.

During this emotional time of your life, building a competent and trustworthy team of advisers who can help you determine what “okay” and “fair” really mean to your family is crucial.

Every divorce has three parts: Legal, Emotional, and Financial.

• You need an attorney to provide legal advice
• You need a mental health professional to help you navigate your emotions
• You need Collaborative Divorce Strategies to provide financial advice and post-divorce financial planning

As part of your divorce team, we work alongside your attorney to provide guidance, education, support, and analysis about financial issues to help you make rational and informed decisions.

Working closely with our clients, we identify and collect the financial data pertinent to the dissolution of a marriage.

From the original data gathering, we evaluate any key financial concerns related to divorce, such as income and deductions, living expenses, assets, and liabilities. This process will likely tip us to other information we will need to request.

We work with your attorney to compile complete and comprehensive document requests, interrogatories, and depositions to ensure no stone goes unturned.

Our team is experienced in uncovering hidden and obscure assets that have otherwise been missed in other divorces such as Capital Loss Carry forwards and Limited Partnerships. Once you’re comfortable that all data has been gathered, we help you and your attorney prepare accurate and defensible Schedules of Assets & Debts and Income & Expenses that must be exchanged with your spouse through financial discovery.

We can save time and money by ensuring your financial information is accurate and complete, allowing your attorney to focus on the legal aspects of the case.

All individuals going through the divorce process may benefit from financial counseling and advice. We work with clients from a variety of backgrounds, including but not limited to:

• Individual women and men
• Same-sex couples
• Families with one primary wage earner
• Dual-income families
• Retired individuals and couples
• People going through first or second marriages
• Families with and without children
• Individuals and families with significant assets and income
• Individuals or families with significant inheritance or potential inheritance
• Individuals and families with moderate assets and income
• Couples interested in mediation
• Attorneys working with divorcing or mediating couples

Traditionally a dissolution of marriage, or divorce proceedings, are initiated by the filing of a petition by one party. The Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is then served to the responding party.

The party originally filing the petition is known as the “plaintiff” and the other party is known as the “defendant.” Following receipt of the petition, the respondent generally has 30 days in which to file his or her responding statement to the facts stated in the petition.

Alternative Dispute Resolution models such as mediation may answer this question differently based on the circumstances involved. It is not uncommon for the divorce process to “unofficially” begin months in advance of a petition when it’s necessary to retain a team or consider whether these processes may be appropriate.

An uncontested divorce is one in which both parties agree to the divorce and the terms of the settlement of all issues (property and debt division, alimony, and child custody and support).

A contested divorce is one in which one or both parties disagree to the terms of the proposed settlement and cannot come to agreeable terms.  In some cases, the judge may order the parties to go through mediation to try and resolve some of the issues to help their case come to a resolution.