As you may very well know, divorce comes with many unpleasant things – splitting assets, custodial arrangements, spousal care, childcare, legal fees, taxes, and so on.

Moreover, as many divorce attorneys point out, divorce can ruin one’s financial life – and finances – if they’re not paying attention to what’s happening or if they’re not prepared for a divorce.

After all, like it or not, we should always be prepared for the worst – even when it comes to marriage. Therefore, here’s precisely how you can prevent a divorce from ruining your finances and keep yourself financially stable!

Don’t Let the Attorney Do Everything

Although you should never go into a divorce without an attorney, it is also recommended that you deal with some of the things that attorneys can do for a fee.

For example, you can either pay an attorney to research various information for you – tax records, security numbers, and so on -, or you can provide them with this information.

Even though their fees for this research won’t impact your finances a lot, it’s a good start that will make you think more about your financial life after the divorce.

Consider Tax Implications

When getting a divorce, don’t think that you’ll simply cash out everything that you and your spouse own, split the proceeds, and you’ll have enough money for a year or so. 

There are taxes that you must take into consideration, naturally. Moreover, financial advisors talk about the importance of a retirement fund – especially when it comes to a divorce.

For example, they point out that a retirement fund is taxable, while a house is not – think well before trading one asset for another. 

Prepare a New Career

As mentioned above, you should think about how you’ll manage in the years following the divorce. Given that you’ll have only one income to rely on, you’ll either have to make sure that you can manage with it only or simply consider a change of career.

Financial advisors state that one should start looking for jobs as soon as they start the divorce proceedings – and not after it’s finalized. 

Marital Assets

Ideally, you shouldn’t move your marital assets – but you should, however, take stock of them. Naturally, the couple should know as much as possible about the value of their joint assets.

As such, when a divorce is about to happen, the two can review the inventory of deposit boxes and bank statements to find out whether one part of the couple didn’t hide assets or move money.

The Bottom Line

You can prevent a divorce from ruining your finances if you stay calm and prepare for your life after the divorce – besides checking your current assets and financial status.

You should do your best to come out of a divorce with a favorable financial situation, but, on top of that, you should also consider the long-term implications of the divorce. A proper retirement fund may be the things that will help you survive a divorce that ended on unfavorable terms for you.