8 Important Questions… To Ask During Your Divorce
Clients often face nagging credit and financial issues from a past divorce they must deal with to buy or refinance a home. To make matters worse, fixing these problems can be very costly. However, you can usually avoid these issues altogether during the divorce.
To ensure your divorce does not cause you headaches for years, ask yourself these 8 questions.
Divorce Question #1: What do you need to do to protect your finances and credit?
- It will depend on your situation. Often, initial reactions based on fear cause more problems. Start with a credit report and monitoring and then seek professional advice.
Divorce Question #2: What are the risks to your finances and credit you must address?
- Common risks include late payments, closing and opening credit accounts, and rising debt. Review your finances and credit to create a list for your separation plan.
Divorce Question #3: What effect, if any, will each step of your separation have on your credit?
- Paying off debt, opening new accounts, and closing existing accounts are examples of actions that can hurt your credit score. Be sure to account for this in your plan.
Divorce Question #4: Does your plan completely separate your financial lives?
- No plan is complete unless the final step results in a total elimination of all joint debt and assets and until all support and property settlement payments are finished.
Divorce Question #5: Who is responsible for implementing your separation plan properly?
- You are ultimately responsible for making sure that you and your ex-spouse complete each part of that plan. Don’t assume anything is done or someone else will get it done.
Divorce Question #6: Is my ex-spouse going to work with me or against me during this process?
- Obviously, working together toward common goals results in a far better process and outcome, but that is not always the case. Your plan should account for both cases.
Divorce Question #7: Will my standard of living be lower after a divorce?
- In most cases, it will. You need to understand how much lower and plan properly.
Divorce Question #8: Do I need to get professional help to complete my divorce properly?
- Yes. A simple mistake can cost you thousands and haunt you for years.
You owe it to yourself and your family to get the help you need to successfully complete your divorce so you can move on with your lives and avoid problems for years to come.
