Divorce Financial Support
Divorce is the largest financial transaction a client will experience in his or her lifetime. Are you prepared to achieve the most equitable settlement? Divorce is a challenging emotional time, but it is also a period of significant financial transition. Dealing with the distribution of marital assets and debts can force a couple to reconsider their life plans and reassess their financial futures. This is especially true if they have been married for a long time.
The financial ramifications of a divorce can be devastating. However, with proper planning and expert help, divorcing couples can increase their chances of arriving at a settlement that fully addresses their short-term and long-term financial needs.
The Family Law Attorney provides legal expertise to the divorcing client. Few lawyers have the time, desire, and/or expertise to understand financial details of the marital estate. What’s missing in many divorce processes is financial expertise.
As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA), Deborah Beylus of South Florida Mediation Services provides expertise on the financial issues of divorce. Deborah Beylus is trained to assist a divorcing client to understand how the decisions he or she makes today will impact his or her financial future. South Florida Mediation Services, Deborah Beylus can help to keep a financial handle on the stages of planning for a successful post-divorce future.
As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA), Deborah Beylus of South Florida Mediation Services has a proven track record of successfully helping divorcing couples understand their assets and get their fair share, giving them the settlement and closure, they need and deserve.
Deborah Beylus can take on many roles in the divorce process. She becomes part of the divorce team and provides support on financial issues such as:
- Understanding the short-term and long-term effects of dividing property.
- Analyzing pensions and retirement plans.
- Determining if the client can afford the marital home, and if not, what he or she can afford.
- Recognizing the tax consequences of different settlement proposals.
- Data Collection and Analysis
- Deborah Beylus can be called upon to act as a financial expert in mediation or in court proceedings.
- Deborah Beylus is trained to interpret the numbers, and help build a strong case that’s in the client’s best interest
Financial Challenges During a Divorce
Married couples typically build their financial plans around staying together for the future. They plan to experience a joint retirement, share a marital residence and create an investment plan for the marriage.
Divorce can force a sharp reconsideration of all of these plans. It is often more expensive to plan for two single futures than one married future, so both parties may need to reconsider their expenses. As a result, it can be important to consult a financial expert when beginning the divorce process.
Financial challenges and uncertainty can be part of a divorce for people of all socioeconomic sectors. Younger couples who are just starting out may have fewer assets to divide, but they may have many questions about how to handle their finances for the future. Couples divorcing after years of marriage may have substantial marital assets and may develop serious disputes about how those assets are to be divided.
Financial issues are some of the biggest sources of conflict in a divorce. If there has been a breach of trust in the relationship, this mistrust often carries over to financial issues in the divorce. Both parties may also experience significant stress about how they will deal with their finances in the future as they need to transition to a new plan. An experienced financial expert in divorce can provide advice throughout negotiations over property division.
By working with a South Florida Mediation Services and Deborah Beylus, a financial expert, couples can consider how the decisions made during the divorce will affect their individual financial futures. A couple may also need to consider spousal support as either a payer or a recipient, especially if one has been a stay-at-home parent. South Florida Mediation Services and Deborah Beylus may provide data to identify need and ability to pay in this regard.
Planning a Successful Financial Future
As part of the divorce process, negotiations, mediation or litigation, each spouse will conduct a thorough financial review of the marital life and assets and their individual projected post-divorce needs. This can be especially important for parents, who need to ensure that they have the funds to care for their children and ensure minimal disruption in their lives. While most people may need to downsize somewhat during and after their divorce, both parents may want to put the children’s expenses first when calculating support obligations.
Some children may have extra medical costs, special needs, tutoring bills, school programs and group trips, as well as future college expenses. Both parents may mandate life insurance as part of their divorce settlement in order to provide greater protection for the children in case of one party’s death.
The financial planning that accompanies divorce covers the initial time after the end of the marriage, but it also expected to last well into the future. While this may be especially true for couples who will share co-parenting, support obligations and family expenses for many years to come, it can also be the case for people who are divorcing without children, especially when determining how to handle major assets.
Managing Assets During a Divorce
Each divorce is different, but there are certain key assets that can be a major focus of negotiations between the couple and their family law attorneys. One of the most significant is often the marital residence. The estimated value of the marital residence may be greatly; couples who have just purchased the marital residence and carry a large mortgage may make different choices than those who have shared a marital residence for 30 years with a mortgage that is largely or fully paid off.
Florida is an equitable distribution state, and assets are not required to be divided by a judge precisely in half. Instead, they are divided in order to ensure a fair outcome for both parties. In many cases, the marital residence is the most valuable asset owned in the marriage. It can also be an emotional concern as well as a financial one. Both spouses may need to do serious thinking and negotiations to decide how to handle the marital residence. In some cases, one party may keep the marital residence and relinquish other assets in exchange; in other cases, the marital residence may be refinanced in the name of the person keeping it. In still other cases, it may be the wisest financial decision to sell the marital residence and equally divide the proceeds between the couple.
It is important to consider the long-term carrying costs, tax consequences, and other expenses associated with any marital asset during the divorce. Even items that can be emotionally meaningful can carry significant financial costs.
Others may deal with more complex assets, such as large investment portfolios, restricted stock, cryptocurrency or private equity funds. Business owners with small family firms or large private companies may have unique concerns about how to protect their assets while securing an equitable outcome.
Deborah Beylus is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™ and received her certification from The Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts (IDFA™), which is the premier national organization dedicated to the certification, education and promotion of the use of financial professionals in the divorce arena.
