Working
with our Divorce Financial Planners
Though many attorneys and mediators lack
formal training in accounting and financial planning, they are expected to negotiate
financial settlements in divorce cases that have both short and long-term tax and
financial impact on their clients lives. As you work on your financial settlement,
too often, what appears to be equal can eventually leave one
of the parties in deep financial distress. To maintain even a modest lifestyle, the lower
income-earning spouse may be forced to spend savings and other assets just to survive.
The principals of Financial Solutions for
Divorce are recognized as experts in financial aspects of divorce and can work with you,
your attorney, your mediator and your other advisors to construct an equitable divorce
settlement that can provide lifetime financial security. The professional designations we
have earned, include: Certified Divorce
Financial Analyst (CDFA), Certified Financial
Planner (CFP), and Certified Public
Accountant/Personal Financial Specialist (CPA/PFS).
We can:
- Help stabilize the immediate financial situation
- Accurately calculate financial needs and ability to pay
- Recommend strategies to minimize taxes
- Analyze alternative divorce settlement scenarios
- Determine the short and long-term financial impact of
proposed settlements
- Provide valuable information on tax and financial issues
- Help make sense of proposals
- Provide expert witness testimony in trials and arbitration
- Provide attorneys with the tools they need to help prove
their case.
You can save time, money, and most
of all reduce your anxiety.
A case study
Samantha and John were married for 22
years, their children are now adults. Samantha works part-time. John is employed as a
hospital administrator. Samantha will receive monthly spousal support from John. All of
their assets are community property, including Johns 401(k) plan, their home, a
brokerage account and a savings account.
Samantha wants to keep the house. John
wants to keep his 401(k) plan. For each to receive total assets valued at the same amount,
John would keep the brokerage account and the most of the balance in the savings account.
Is this 50/50 division of property fair
and equitable?
We prepared long-term cash flow
projections for both Samantha and John. By looking at estimated income and expenses in
future years, we found that Samantha would not have adequate funds to meet her expenses
during her retirement. It was not in Samanthas best long-term interest to keep the
house.
They agreed to sell the house now and
divide the proceeds. This settlement allowed for both parties to have adequate income to
meet their current and long-term needs. |