Bedrock Divorce Advisors
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My Forbes.com Articles
- What A Divorcing Woman Needs To Know About Her Husband's Cash-Based Business
- Seven Key Points Divorcing Women Need To Know About Real Estate And Real Estate Appraisals
- Small World, Big Problem: Divorces Involving Dual Citizenship
- Five Best Financial Tips for Women Divorcing in 2013
- Financial Strategies for Divorcing A Narcissist
- Domestic Violence: The Awareness We Overlook
- Three Types of Financial Mistakes Divorcing Women Make (And How to Avoid Them)
- What Are the Consequences Of Hiding Assets During Divorce?
- Four Reasons Why A Woman Needs A Vocational Expert On Her Divorce Team
- Divorcing Women, Especially Those in Abusive Relationships, Benefit From Learning How to Secure Their Financial Futures
- How To Handle Difficult To Divide Assets
- Seven Must-Do Steps For Women Who Want Financial Stability Post-Divorce
- Can a Trust Protect My Assets in Divorce?
- Divorcing Women: Here's What You Need to Know About ATROs
- My Best Financial Advice for the Bride-to-Be
- What Would Monica Geller Say About Courteney Cox's Divorce Strategy?
- How Divorcing Women Should Handle Retirement Accounts and Pension Plans
- Three of the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Health Insurance, Life Insurance and Social Security After Divorce
- How Some Men Are Upending Domestic Violence Laws to Scam an Advantage in Divorce
- The Five Key Points Divorcing Women Need to Know About Financial Affidavits
- Divorce Is Final, No Do-Overs Allowed
- The Four Divorce Alternatives
- How "Conflicting Out" Top Divorce Attorneys Can Impact Your Divorce
- Why Women Who Are Organized Often Do Better in Divorce
- 21 Signs That Your Husband May Be Hiding Marital Assets During Your Divorce
- Divorcing Women: Here's Where Husbands Typically Hide Assets
- Tax Tips for Women Going Through Divorce
- Three Key Steps to Help a Woman Protect Her Finances When Leaving an Abusive Marriage
- Divorcing Women: Don't Make These Five Costly Mistakes
- Why a Lifestyle Analysis Is So Critically Important For Divorcing Women
- The Six Personal Traits That Help Women Successfully Survive Divorce
- Why Do Successful Women Fall Victim to the Oscar Love Curse?
- Who Pays for College Tuition? Top Factors for Divorcing Women to Consider
- Alimony Reforms Continue to Create More Uncertainty for Divorcing Women
- Legal Separation or Divorce: Which is Better Financially?
- How Can a Divorcing Woman Get the Child Support, Alimony She is Owed?
- End-of-the-Year Checklist for Divorcing Women
- Seven Key Things Women Need to Know About the Tax Implications of Alimony Payments
- Five Steps a Woman Can Take to Help Her Family-Run Business Survive Divorce
- What is an Alimony Trust and Why NBA Ex-Wives Might Wish They Had One
- Study Shows Divorced Women Have Less Economic Security Than Women Who Stay Married
- Five Financial Lessons Women Can Learn from the Demi and Ashton Break-up Rumors
- How the Valuation Dates of Different Assets Are Decided During Divorce
- Why Divorcing Women Need to Pay Careful Attention to the Date of Separation
- Divorce Advice For Physically And Financially Abused Women
- Warning: Don't Let Friends, Family or Non-Divorce Professionals Give You Divorce Advice
- What a Volatile Stock Market May Mean for a Woman’s Divorce Settlement Agreement
- Why Even Happily Married Women Should Meet with a Divorce Financial Advisor
- Divorcing Women Need to Answer These Key Questions Before Deciding to Keep The House
- Don’t Let Your Ex-Husband Inherit Your 401(k)
- Six Must-Do Financial Steps for Women Facing Divorce
- In Many States, Alimony Reform Has Gone Too Far
- Five Ways To Tell If Your Husband Is Hiding Assets
- Financial Tips for Women Facing Grey Divorce
- Can You Get a Divorce Do-over?
- June Brides, Are You Ready for Divorce?
- Upfront Lump Sum Payment or Alimony? Why Some NFL Ex-Wives Are Now Smiling
- Does Maria Shriver Have A Prenup? Why Did Arnold Put His Movie Career On Hold?
- Even Affluent Women May No Longer Be Eligible For Credit Cards
- The Big Thing Celebrities Fight Most About When They Divorce - And Why You Should, Too
- Should You Disinherit Your Husband?
- Divorce-Proof Your Business, Even If You’re Still Single Or Happily Married!
- Understanding How Assets Get Divided in Divorce
- Welcome to Divorce Dollars and Sense
My HuffPost Divorce Articles
- 9 Critical Steps Women Should Take To Prepare For Divorce
- Can I Take Money Out Of My 401K During My Divorce?
- Divorce Finance Books: 7 Recommendations
- Five Retirement Issues You Need to Resolve During Your Divorce
- How To Divorce-Proof Your Business: Buy-Sell Agreements
- How To Divorce-Proof Your Business: Creating A Trust
- How To Divorce-Proof Your Business: The Basics
- How To Divorce-Proof Your Business: The ESOP Or Property Settlement
- How To Divorce-Proof Your Business: The Prenup
- Is Your Husband Hiding Assets?
- Seven Steps to Protect Your Assets When Leaving an Abusive Marriage
- The Five Most Common Financial Mistakes Women Make After They Divorce
- The Top 6 Serious Financial Mistakes Women Make During Their Divorce
Five Best Financial Tips for Women Divorcing in 2021
Now that 2020 is in the rear-view mirror (thank goodness!!), it’s time to focus on 2021.
If you have put off filing for divorce because of the pandemic, you are not alone!
According to a recent article on Bloomberg.com, “the number of Americans getting divorced plummeted last year…” “The data contradict early predictions that Covid and the stresses of quarantine would cause divorce rates to surge.”
If you are now planning to divorce in 2021, here are the five best things you can do now that will make the process go more smoothly once it formally begins:
- Gather financial documents.
Along with holiday greetings, this month’s mail and/or emails brings year-end statements from banks, brokerages, credit card companies and the like. Make copies of these. Go through our Financial Information Checklist to see what other financial and legal documents you should gather and copy as well. Secure the copies with a trusted friend or family member or use a safe deposit box that your husband can’t access.
Having important documents on hand early in the divorce process means you avoid any possible unpleasantness (not to mention time and expense) trying to get copies of them later.
- Assess your credit.
Request a copy of your credit report and correct any misinformation it contains. Good credit is the foundation of your financial future, so watch it carefully! Without credit it can be near impossible to obtain loans for any purpose, or even to manage the expenses of running your household.
Keep an especially close eye on credit card statements. If your husband used your joint credit cards to buy his girlfriend gifts this holiday season, you’ll want to be able to document that.
- Open accounts in your own name.
As a single woman, you will need your own bank accounts and credit cards. It is not too soon to set these up. Use a different bank than where you currently have joint accounts, and open both savings and checking accounts in your name alone.
- Begin to assemble a professional divorce team.
Gone are the days when, if you or your husband wanted a divorce, the only thing to do was for each of you to retain lawyers who would then work through all the legal matters. Today, financial portfolios –and the regulations that govern them –are much more complex, and many women find they need multiple layers of professional help to navigate all the legal and financial details.
If you’ll be divorcing in 2021, it’s a good idea to begin researching divorce professionals who can steer the process. I recommend you start with a matrimonial/family law attorney, a divorce financial planner and a therapist/counselor. Gather and compare information and schedule interviews with the best candidates for January. Then, you can relax a bit, knowing that, as the New Year unfolds, your divorce will be in expert hands.
- Be watchful.
As your focus turns from being married in 2020 to getting divorced in 2021, there are some important things to watch out for. It is still very common for husbands to hide assets and/or income during divorce –even though that’s underhanded, unethical and illegal. The tactics run the gamut from stashing cash in safety deposit boxes, to underreporting income and overreporting expenses, to unloading property to family and friends with the understanding he’ll get it back after the divorce settlement is final. I’ve written before about specific signs that your husband might be hiding assets. Be vigilant.
Moreover, if you have any reason to suspect there is something amiss financially, you may want to seriously rethink filing a joint tax return for 2020. In most cases, the IRS is likely to find you are equally liable for any misdeeds, no matter how innocent or ignorant of them you are. (There is a very limited and hard-to-get I.R.S. and state exception called “Innocent Spouse Relief,” but it is rarely accepted.)
In closing, I’d like to tell you about my new company, Next Act Properties, Inc., (https://nextactproperties.com/) which provides one-stop real estate solutions for divorcing couples (Bedrock Divorce continues to exclusively work with women on the financial aspects of their divorce).
Here is a brief description of how we can help you:
One of the biggest issues people face when going through a divorce is what to do with the marital house, which is frequently the couple’s largest asset.
Often one spouse, typically the wife (especially if there are minor children), wants to remain in the house for a certain period-of-time, such as when the youngest child graduates from high school.
If this is the case, the first step would be to see if the spouse who wants to keep the house can 1) buy-out the other spouse’s share of the equity in the house and 2) Refinance the mortgage so that the new mortgage is only in the name of the spouse who will remain in the house.
We can help with both these issues.
Having worked since 2010 with hundreds of women around the country on the financial aspects of their divorce, we can work with the divorcing couple and their divorce attorneys to see if there are sufficient assets for one spouse to buy-out the interest in the house from the other spouse.
If a buy-out is possible, we would then help that spouse refinance the house in his or her name (the other soon-to-be ex-spouse will want their name off of the current mortgage) through our nationwide network of divorce mortgage experts, most of whom are Certified Divorce Lending Professionals (CDLP™ designation) and/or have many years of experience dealing with divorcing couples and their mortgage financing/refinancing needs.
Unfortunately, sometimes it’s just not possible for the spouse who wants to remain in the house to do so. He or she may not be able to buy-out the other spouse and/or refinance the mortgage.
If the spouse who wants to remain in the house was unable to buy-out the other spouse and refinance the mortgage, then we have a new and unique solution that will still allow the spouse to remain in the home.
Next Act Properties, Inc. will purchase the house for cash from the divorcing couple and lease the house back to the spouse who wants to remain in the house (sale-leaseback) for a period of several years (typically 3 – 5 years, although it could be longer or shorter).
And finally, should none of the above solutions work out, we can, through our real estate brokerage subsidiary, Next Act Realty, LLC, help the divorcing couple sell their home through our nationwide network of divorce real estate experts, most of whom have specialized training in the unique financial, legal and tax aspects of selling real estate in the context of divorce and/or have many years of experience helping divorcing couples sell their marital home.
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