Divorce Consulting Services

A Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®) is a financial professional with specialized training to guide individuals through the financial complexities of divorce. As the go-to financial expert for divorce negotiations, a CDFA® collaborates with you, your attorney, and other members of your divorce team to develop a fair and sustainable financial settlement.

CDFAs offer personalized guidance to help you understand every financial aspect of your life and how it is impacted by divorce. They assist with:

• Budgeting: Establishing, understanding, and implementing monthly spending plans.
  
  
• Splitting Finances: Navigating the transition from one household to two.
  
  
• Property Division: Identifying and categorizing different types of property and dividing household contents sensibly.
  
  
• Retirement Planning: Understanding and valuing retirement and pension plans.
  
  
• Tax Considerations: Explaining divorce-related tax implications and what to expect.
  
  
• Post-Divorce Planning: Defining financial goals, developing a budget, and setting retirement targets.
  
  
• Lifestyle Planning: Identifying the lifestyle you want and determining financial feasibility.
  
  
• Education Costs: Estimating and planning for your children’s education expenses.
  
  
• Risk Assessment: Discussing your comfort level with investment risks.

Attorneys are highly skilled professionals trained to protect your legal rights and navigate the legal aspects of divorce. However, it’s important to recognize that their expertise lies in the law—not in the complexities of taxes, pension distributions, insurance, or financial planning. Expecting an attorney to have deep knowledge in these areas may lead to gaps in addressing critical financial concerns, such as:

• Ensuring you can maintain your lifestyle post-divorce.
  
  
• Making informed decisions about asset division.
  
  
• Planning for long-term financial security.
  
  
• Educating you along the way on your finances.

At first glance, hiring both a CDFA® and an attorney might seem like an added expense, but in reality, it’s an investment in your future financial stability. Here’s why:

1. Expertise Saves Time and Money:
• A CDFA® streamlines the financial aspects of your case by gathering, analyzing, and presenting financial data efficiently.
• Their expertise can prevent costly mistakes, such as overlooking tax implications or undervaluing assets, which could lead to financial hardship down the road.
2. Informed Decisions:
• By providing a clear picture of your financial situation, a CDFA® empowers you to make decisions that are both informed and aligned with your goals.
• This reduces back-and-forth negotiations, potentially lowering legal fees.
3. Avoiding Long-Term Financial Pitfalls:
• A CDFA® focuses on the big picture, ensuring your settlement supports not just your immediate needs but also your long-term financial health, including retirement and future expenses.
4. Collaborative Approach:
• Working alongside your attorney, a CDFA® ensures all financial aspects are addressed comprehensively, leaving your lawyer free to focus on legal strategy and representation.

While hiring a CDFA® adds an upfront cost, it often saves money in the long run by securing a more equitable settlement and avoiding financial surprises. More importantly, it provides peace of mind knowing that your financial future is in expert hands.

These documents must be completed and exchanged with one another.  This is a step in the process where a Certified Divorce Financial Analysts may need to be employed to help.  Each state has it’s own rules, however the disclosures are likely to include the following basic information.

1. Bank accounts (joint and individual)
2. Mortgage Statements and real estate documents
3. Tax returns
4. Retirement accounts (401k, 457, 403b, SEP)
5. Stock or other investment statements
6. Pension or Annuity statements
7. Life Insurance
8. Paystubs
9. Business financial statements
10. Credit Card bills and statements (joint and individual)

The goal for this document is to ensure that both sides have a complete understanding of each other’s financial situation before they enter into settlement discussions.

A written contract dividing property, spelling out rights and obligations, as well as settling issues such as spousal and child support and custody. At any time during your contested divorce process, the spouses can work together to settle their issues this is also know as a “settlement”. The courts encourage couples to negotiate and come up with their own solutions. As long as the settlement is fair and it meets the best interest of the children a judge will usually approve. You may still need to go to court and attend a hearing to prove to the judge that both spouses are in agreement with the terms.

Generally, all income or property earned or acquired during the marriage; everything else except “separate property”. It includes anything and everything that was acquired from the date of the marriage until the time that there’s a divorce action, so furniture, money, a business, cars, real estate, stock, retirement accounts, etc.

A person who goes to court representing himself/herself.

The one who files the suit is the plaintiff or complainant. The defendant or respondent is the partner in a marriage against whom a divorce complaint is filed.

Discovery is a procedure followed by attorneys to determine the nature, scope, and credibility of the opposing party’s claim. Discovery can include depositions, written interrogatories, and notices to produce documentation relating to issues relevant to the case.

Court ruling on the division of property, spousal support, and responsibility to children when a couple wishes to separate but not divorce. A legal separation is most often desired for religious or medical reasons. A decree of legal separation does not dissolve the marriage and does not allow the parties to remarry. Some states do not recognize legal separation.

Not one spouse is to blame for the breakdown of the marriage. Instead, you have what is sometimes referred to as “irreconcilable differences”.

Prior to their marriage, partners can contractually agree how assets and liabilities will be divided in the event of a divorce with a prenuptial or premarital agreement (commonly known as a “prenup”).

The divorce petition is typically the first legal paperwork filed in a divorce. The petition is a document that essentially asks the court to grant a legal separation or divorce. The summons is usually served simultaneously on the other party to notify them of the court action. At this point neither party should be making any major financial changes or disposing of marital assets.

Physical Custody

The day-to-day rights and responsibilities associated with having your child in your home and being responsible for his/her care and upbringing.

Parenting Agreement

A legal document created during a divorce or separation that outlines how parents will share responsibilities and make decisions regarding their children. Its purpose is to ensure that the children's needs are prioritized and that both parents understand their roles and expectations in co-parenting.

Parenting Coordinator

A third-party, sometimes but not always a lawyer, who helps the parents/guardians reach an agreement regarding custody or other parenting issues of the children. The parenting coordinator can make a decision or recommendation on behalf of the child

Visitation

The time that a noncustodial parent spends with their children. It may be called “Parenting Time”. Visitation may be granted to people who are not parents, such as grandparents, relatives, other persons who can show that they have an abiding interest in the welfare of the child, have a history of interaction and continuing contact with the child.. Under certain circumstances, visitation may be limited to situations that are supervised by a third party approved by the court.