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3. Realistically assess what you can earn. Have you been out of the job market for a while? Perhaps you need some time to get your skills up to speed before taking the plunge. Has business been off lately? Keep a record of that now, so no one later accuses you of deliberately reducing your income to negotiate a more favorable settlement. |
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4. Learn everything there is to know about your family's financial holdings. Remember, as you wind your way through the divorce maze, you will only be able to share in assets you know about, so you must find out exactly what the two of you have. For most, that's probably easy. There's a house (owned by the bank), a car (still owned by the dealer), a pension (not yet vested), and a little bit of savings. But for some, property ownership is more complicated. In some states, a business created during the marriage is an asset to be valued, and a judge can distribute its value. The same may go for an educational degree, or even part of the value of a summer houseone you inherited during the marriage. |
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5. Realistically assess your family's debt. Often, the allocation of debt is harder to prove or negotiate than the division of assets. What debts do you have? Credit card, personal loans, bank loans, car loans? How much does it cost to pay these debts each month? A good source for this information is your family's income tax return. Specifically, search under Schedule B for sources of interest income and jot the information down. If possible, locate the 1099 formsthe forms that banks use to report interest income each year. That form will have the name of the bank on it and the account number. If you don't have the tax return and are afraid of raising suspicions by asking for it, write the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS will provide you with a copy of the return (provided it was a joint return), but it takes several weeks to receive it. If you have a family accountant, you can also ask him or her to send you copies of returns and 1099 statements. You may also check the mail each month to see who is billing you and for what. Open the bills and photocopy them. If your spouse asks why the envelope is open, say you wanted to see what the bill was for. Hey, you're entitled! |
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