Back to Home
Life is full of transitions. Certainly, one of the most difficult transitions is divorce. LongView offers specialized services to help clients solve the specific financial challenges during divorce.

Divorce is full of hard emotional and financial decisions. You will likely feel pressured to make big decisions quickly. The results often determine your financial well being for decades and maybe for life. Kris Dwyer, CDFA, (yourdivorcefinances.com), leads this practice area at LongView. With over 25 years of professional planning experience, Kris helps our divorcing clients answer that critical question of “Will I be OK after the divorce?” Using a personal planning process, she can help you and your attorney evaluate your options and negotiate with clarity. Having a comprehensive plan for your financial future will let you make the best possible decisions during a tough time.

Keys to Smart Decision-Making During Divorce
  1. Gather your team.  Kris often counsels clients that every divorce is actually four separate divorces.  These four divorces are the legal divorce, the financial divorce, the spiritual or emotional divorce, and the social divorce.  Gathering your team of attorney, financial professional, therapist or counselor, and trusted friends will help you stay healthier and make more thoughtful decisions.
  2. “Know that you know” your finances.  An early step in the divorce process is collecting lots of information about your financial assets, income, tax situation, expenses, and more.  This critical process can also be an overwhelming process.  Most couples in long term marriages didn't make financial decisions all those years with a future divorce in mind.  The asset structure that resulted from twenty or more years of marriage is very difficult to divide.  Often we can suggest a settlement that improves the after-divorce stability of both spouses.  We can help you and your attorney get the proper information and make sense of the dollars.  "Knowing that you know" your finances can help you and your attorney negotiate with full information.
  3. Know the answers to your top 5 questions.  First, exactly what are your top five questions?  Divorce is full of questions, but not all questions are of equal importance, so get answers to your most critical questions.  Here are some of the most-often-asked questions:
 
  1. Can I keep the house?  Can I afford the house?  Should we sell the house?
  2. What about my health/medical insurance?  Should I use COBRA?
  3. Do I have to go back to work? 
  4. How much money will I have for monthly expenses?
  5. How does alimony and child support work?  Is there enough money to cover all of it?
  6. What is my pension plan worth?  How can we split it?
  7. How does the divorce affect my plans to retire?
  1. Spend some time and energy to fully define your after-divorce cash flow situation. If you suspect cash flow may be tight after the divorce, you are likely correct. Divorce is stressful enough without the added stress of a cash flow crunch. Starting in on this process early may allow you to make early decisions to ease cash flow later. Dollars are usually stretched thin during and after a divorce. We can often help both spouses create a feasible cash flow plan.
It's our privilege here at LongView to work with clients in many situations and stages of life, not all of them pretty.  Though our work in divorce situations is often difficult and tedious, it is also satisfying to us that we can help during such a critical time.  It's our sincere hope that our work in the midst of such upheaval will not only create financial stability, but will also help our clients preserve the ties of family and friendship. For more information please visit yourdivorcefinances.com.

 

Securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. A registered broker/dealer.
Member FINRA & SIPC.

Due to various state regulations and registration requirements concerning the dissemination of information regarding investment products and services, we are currently required to limit access of the following pages to individuals residing in states where we are currently registered. Investment Advisory Services offered through IAR’s of Longview Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Adviser. Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC, to residents of: Alabama (AL),Arkansas (AR),Arizona (AZ),California (CA),Colorado (CO),Connecticut (CT),Delaware (DE),Florida (FL),Georgia (GA),Illinois (IL),Indiana (IN),Kansas (KS),Kentucky (KY),Louisiana (LA),Maine (ME),Maryland (MD),Michigan (MI),Mississippi (MS),Missouri (MO),Nebraska (NE), North Carolina (NC),New Jersey (NJ),New Mexico (NM), New York (NY),Ohio (OH), Oklahoma (OK),Oregon (OR),Pennsylvania (PA),Rhode Island (RI),South Carolina (SC),Tennessee (TN),Texas (TX),Utah (UT),Virginia (VA),West Virginia (WV),Wisconsin (WI),Wyoming (WY), Vermont (VT).

Cambridge and Longview Wealth Management are not affiliated.