3 Things To Do To Prepare Yourself For An Upcoming Divorce
Are you and your spouse talking about getting a divorce, but it hasn't been made official yet? If so, you'll want to do the following things:
Know What Is Considered Marital Property
One of the most difficult parts of getting divorced is dividing all of the marital property. Everything you acquire is considered marital property unless something is a gift or was inherited. This means that the longer you remain married, the more marital property will need to be divided. Delaying a divorce will only cause more complications with needing to divide more property.
However, many people are not aware that retirement plans are also considered marital property. Even if you have separate accounts, all contributions made to those accounts during the marriage is marital property. If you opened retirement accounts after you were married, then it will be pretty easy to figure out what is considered marital property. However, it becomes complicated when you have a retirement account where you made contributions before you were married.
Make A Financial Plan For After The Divorce
It's important to get familiar with your current financial situation and start making a plan for what you will do after you get a divorce. Many people underestimate how much it will cost to simply get by when you and your spouse are going to be managing two households after the divorce on the same amount of combined income. This can cause people to not plan for it.
You'll need to figure out what your monthly expenses are going to be and what your income will be after receiving or providing any support payments. You may need to decide to cut certain expenses, set a budget for how much your living expenses will be, and decide where you are going to live.
Know Your Path For The Divorce
There are two potential paths you can take to get a divorce, which is a contested and uncontested divorce. An uncontested divorce is going to be less contentious and cheaper since you and your spouse will decide on every aspect of the divorce together. A contested divorce is the complete opposite, where you cannot come to terms with your spouse about the divorce and need to settle it in mediation or court. It's important to know more about each option so that you fully understand them and then decide which is going to be the best path for your divorce.
For more information, reach out to divorce lawyers near you.