Divorce and Your Finances: How to Preserve Your Position

In times of economic hardship, as now, it is important that you ensure you are catered for financially. When money is tight, financial self-preservation kicks in and people become increasingly aware of how to save money, cut back on expenditure, and preserve the money you have. This kind of self-preservation kicks in even more strongly when you are going through a divorce.

Post-Nuptial Agreements

If you are still married, and have not yet decided to divorce, it is still possible to enter into a post-nuptial agreement. These are much like pre-nuptial agreements, which enable you to decide who gets what before you get married, but are legally binding documents that are entered into during your marriage and enforceable if you divorce.

This means that, in the event that you divorce, you and your partner already know exactly where you stand and you both end up with what you had agreed. With all agreements that are intended to be legally binding, you must be utterly honest about what you have and how much money you have got. If not, the court may not enforce it. If you are both honest, the agreement will be binding – even if the resulting effect is different to that which a court would have reached of its own volition.

Divorce

To protect your assets it is vital that you seek proper legal advice on the various ways of separating. Each couple’s situation is different and what is right for you may be different to other people you know. There are always pros and cons to deciding to sort everything out quickly, or deciding to wait for a while. For example, if you stay married you could get some benefit from your spouse’s pension for the period of time while you stay married. If you divorce you would automatically lose this entitlement. If you are the breadwinner, you may want a quick divorce to limit your liability to your former partner once you are no longer together.

Collaborative Divorces

One of the most stressful elements of divorce is when it becomes bitter, sniping and emotionally exhausting. One of the ways in which you may be able to preserve your wealth is to consider the collaborative approach to a divorce. This style of divorce has been going for many years across the Atlantic, and is often depicted in popular US TV sitcoms. With collaborative law, you sit across the table with your lawyer, your ex spouse, and your ex spouse’s lawyer and decide who gets what. This enables a non-aggressive, dignified way to end your marriage and decides what happens with your joint assets. It also helps you to focus on what is important to each of you as individuals, in a safe and non-confrontational environment, and saves on court and legal costs.

Although collaborative law is not for everyone, it can be a way of ensuring that you maintain some control over the separation as well as being able to have a better chance at maintaining contact with your friends, other members of the family and children. If you are considering divorce and are keen to ensure that you safeguard yourself financially as well as maintaining your sanity, you should always consider the collaborative approach before resorting to court.