Our Virginia divorce lawyers spend a lot of time and effort trying to help our clients come to terms with diverse challenges sparked by their separations. Divorce can cause emotional upheaval as well as logistical burdens. It can also create immediate financial problems that can be hard to solve. For instance, what if you’re a business owner who has been depending on your wife’s salary to fund your start up and pay employees? Or what if you’ve been struggling to stave off foreclosure, even with two income streams?
To handle the complex and sometimes unexpected financial issues that a divorce or child custody battle can touch off, you might find it useful to hire a qualified financial planner, who can help you budget, answer your questions, and create a strategy to deal with the ad hoc financial needs and demands that arise during divorce.
An advisor can also help you manage any money that you obtain during the divorce, including monthly spousal or child support, portions of the marital estate, real estate or business property. Here are three critical areas that your advisor can help you manage:
- Living expenses. Especially if your spouse provided significant financial support during your marriage, you need to determine how much cash you need to live and care for your children. You then need to build a reasonable budget based on realistic expectations of what will happen during the divorce and what you can earn or otherwise bring in through the sale of assets or property.
- Paying off debt. A solid debt management plan can help you build a simpler and more prosperous financial future. Options to handle debt can include restructuring your debt, paring down your budget and bankruptcy.
- Saving for retirement. You may not be thinking 20 or 30 years down the line, because you’re so wrapped up in the urgent issues of the divorce. But you should at least consider your ideal trajectory on longer time lines.
Pave the Way for a Long Term Financial Solution After Divorce
The following steps can help you manage your money more effectively:
- Update your information. If you choose to change your name after a divorce, make sure to update all personal and financial records – including your driver’s license, Social Security card, credit cards, insurance, utilities, and other assets.
- Create a budget. Identify your monthly expenses and revenue streams to develop a clear picture of how to utilize your funds to best effect and how to trim your spending while the divorce process plays out.
- Contact a qualified financial advisor. A financial professional can help you determine how to spend, save, and invest to effectively manage your income.
Getting divorced can be an exquisitely painful and confusing experience. But with qualified, smart people on your side — such as experienced divorce attorneys in VA — you can weather the storm and build towards a happy and prosperous future. To discuss the intricacies of your divorce case, call DiPietro, PLLC today at (888) 530-4374.