that the language of your agreement contains no hidden surprises and can help you drastically reduce the chances of your agreement being challenged due to imprecise wording or illegal clauses.
You may need a psychologist or counselor (often called divorce coaches) as well to help you deal with the emotional issues of the divorce, so that you can move forward with your life or put together a parenting plan. In addition, if you and your ex-spouse are of the saver/spender type or have vastly different risk profiles, you can benefit immensely by involving a third party whose job it is to help you understand each other’s point of view and motivations — and thereby help you stay out of court.
A financial divorce specialist (that is, a financial planner with special training in divorce issues) can also be of great assistance. They model settlement offers so that you can see the potential long-term impact. A financial divorce specialist can help you understand the financial impact of any divorce settlement on both your current and future lifestyle by helping you determine such issues as whether or not you can afford to keep the house and the tax implications of various settlement proposals.
If you consider that lawyers are not trained to give financial advice or deal with emotions, that psychologists are neither legal nor financial experts, and that financial planners are not qualified to deal with legal or emotional issues, you can see the benefit of having a team of professionals working on your behalf. Your team will ensure that you walk away from the proceedings in the best possible emotional and financial circumstances within the appropriate legal framework.
The right professional in eight easy steps
To build an effective team, you must choose professionals with whom you can work, and who will be working in your best interest. Here are some tips to help you find professionals who are right for you:
1. Start by getting referrals from family and friends, or other professionals with whom you have worked.
2. Look for professionals with whom you are comfortable. It is important that that person’s style matches your needs. Some people in the midst of a divorce want to feel in control, some want to feel empowered, and some simply want direction and a lot of hand-holding. A professional who takes direction from the client but gives little unsolicited input will not suit the latter type of client, but will be raved about by the person who wants control.
3. Ask the professionals you are considering hiring about their experience in dealing with your particular issues. You are within your right to ask for references, and if appropriate, to be shown samples of their work.
4. Check references. It can be very costly changing a professional in mid-stream. Ask the person who referred you what he or she was looking for when he or she hired that professional, and what he or she liked most and least about working with that person. Ask also what he or she would change if he or she were doing it over.
5. Find out what the professional’s fee structure is, how you will be billed, and for what you will be billed. Ask for a ballpark figure for the work to be done. However, don’t make your decision based on price alone. The final price will be determined by many factors outside the control of you and your professional. Financial advisors must be particularly careful when it comes to method of payment. If they are paid or are going to be paid by commissions from future sales, they may be open to charges of conflict of interest, which will negate the integrity of their opinion if the case does end up in court. It is best for you to ensure that your entire team is paid on a fee-only basis.
6. Ask about service details. How soon can you expect your calls to be returned? What happens to your case if the person with whom you are dealing falls ill or something else comes up? Ask about the number of open cases he or she currently has.
7. Ask about anything else that is of concern to you.
8. When you are meeting with a professional for the first time, take someone along who knows you and whose opinion you trust. Compare notes afterwards.
During the divorce process, you may also need the services of accountants, appraisers, actuaries, and career counselors for the following reasons:
• Accountants can analyze books of a business to determine the value of the business — very useful in cases in which one or the other party has business interests. An accountant can also help you determine whether or not your spouse has hidden assets.
• Appraisers can determine the monetary value of any particular asset, thereby giving you much-needed information when you are bargaining a settlement. How much is your house worth? Or your collection of antiques? Or a stamp or coin collection? An appraiser can help you answer all these questions.
• Actuaries are people who compile and analyze statistics. Actuaries are normally used to calculate the real value of a pension, which can be difficult to determine. The value of a pension shown on a pension fund’s annual report may or may not be useful for property-division purposes. A pension is a valuable asset, and you’ll want the most accurate figures possible when working out your divorce settlement.
• Career counselors are used whenever information about career possibilities and choices are required. A career counselor may be used to evaluate the potential future earning of a spouse, for the purpose of determining spousal support. For example, suppose one spouse had supported the family while the other went to medical school or law school, and the divorce happened soon after the newly graduated spouse entered the workforce. A career counselor may be consulted to determine the future earning potential of that spouse so that proper restitution can be made.
Another instance in which a career counselor may be used is if one spouse stayed home as a caregiver to the family. During the divorce proceedings, the supporting spouse may make allegations as to the high-earning potential of the stay-at-home spouse due to previous education. A counselor can give a realistic view of the stay-at-home spouse’s income potential due to age, education, experience, and workplace demands.
A career counselor can also help you move forward into your post-divorce life.
A qualified, well-chosen team working on your behalf may help you avoid mistakes and decisions that could prove very costly to your future. The financial effects of divorce are not only immediate. They can also persist right into old age.
The following article is from the Smart Marriages Archive, reproduced in the Divorce Statistics Collection by Eric Beauchesne. The data referred to in this article is Canadian; however, because Canadian and American demographics are so similar, it could just as easily be applied to the United States.
OTTAWA — Baby boomers, particularly women, may end up paying a high price in old age for their soaring divorce rates, a cost that taxpayers would likely share.
A collection of essays by Statistics Canada and university researchers on the “consequences of population ageing” warns of the impact for divorced elderly boomers and for their adult children.
“A number of events could interfere with the effectiveness or the informal support network of the elderly in the future, the most significant of which is probably divorce,” it says. “A number of surveys tend to show that the helping relationships and exchanges among divorced parents and children are not as strong as others, mainly in the case of men.”
However, it is divorced female boomers who are in danger of being the major victims in old age, at least financially, and that could weigh heavily on the cash-starved and strained social safety
