Planning For A Divorce After The Holidays

The stress of the holiday season, along with the chance for a fresh start at the beginning of the year, makes January a popular time to divorce.

2012-11-22

November 22, 2012 (Press-News.org) Planning for a divorce after the holidays

The stress of the holiday season, along with the chance for a fresh start at the beginning of the year, makes January a popular time to divorce. Often married couples will put family ahead of personal needs until after the holiday season is over. However, if divorce is in the future, preparing for divorce can begin before the actual filing takes place in January. Planning ahead can make the process easier on everyone and protect your financial assets for the new year. While the steps below are good practice for any time of the year, a month or two of financial planning and diligence during the holiday season can pay off in the long run.

Get documents

Asset division in a complex divorce begins with compiling paperwork. The end of the year is a good time to get credit card balance statements, bank account statements and other financial information. These documents will be important in a divorce proceeding. Do not keep the financial documents in the house, but instead take them to a safety deposit box or a trusted friend or family member. Your financial well-being can be protected by immediately obtaining such documents.

In addition, run a credit score to ensure you are aware of all debts in your name. Unknown credit card balances or personal loans in the name of both ex-spouses can be a shock post-divorce. Just because you are divorced does not mean credit card companies or other lenders cannot go after you. In fact, because lenders are considered third parties to a divorce proceeding, even if you obtain a promise in the divorce agreement to assign all the joint debt to your ex, a lender is still legally free to go after you for payment.

Start creating a separate financial life

Immediately open new checking and savings accounts. Start using these accounts to prepare for legal and financial planning fees as well as life post-divorce. If obtaining a credit card, do not include the name of your spouse on the card.

Obtaining a PO Box is a good way to receive the account statements, legal documents and other necessary paperwork. By keeping these important documents out of the marital home, you are providing yourself with security and beginning your new financial life.

Other changes

Other financial changes include changing your life insurance beneficiaries and updating your will and estate planning documents. Most states, including Pennsylvania, allow a spouse to opt for an Elective Share upon the death of one spouse, so it is not possible to completely disinherit a spouse even with impeccable estate planning. Still, if your estate plan currently leaves everything to your spouse, it is worth it to change the estate plan to provide as much as you can for your children rather than leave everything to a soon-to-be ex-spouse.

Speak to a family law attorney

Every divorce is as unique as the situation of the parties. If you are considering divorce during or after the upcoming holiday season, contact an experienced divorce lawyer to discuss your legal and financial options.

Article provided by Montgomery & Zimmerer, L.L.C.
Visit us at http://www.mzlegal.com

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

The Toll of Bicycle Accidents

2012-11-22

The toll of bicycle accidents The Texas Department of Transportation and a nonprofit organization stepped up efforts to educate motorists and bicyclists in the wake of a tragic accident near Amarillo. Two bicyclists riding on a popular bicycling road were killed when a motorist struck them from behind. The driver claimed he was blinded by sunlight. Share the Road! is a nonprofit that was created in 2010 for raising safety awareness for pedestrians. A spokesman for the organization stated that any driver on the frontage road where the accident occurred ought to be ...

Measure 11 and Oregon's Violent Crime Rate

2012-11-22

Measure 11 and Oregon's Violent Crime Rate We've all heard the saying, "If you can't do the time, don't commit the crime." It captures the sentiment that the tougher the sentence the stronger the disincentive to commit crime. While it may be easy to believe that a relationship exists between crime rates and incarceration, many criminal defense attorneys and others in the criminal justice world question the connection. In the 1980s and mid-1990s the number of violent crimes committed in Oregon dramatically increased. Believing that a lack of deterrents created ...

New York Acts To Take Repeat DWI Offenders Off The Road

2012-11-22

New York acts to take repeat DWI offenders off the road New York is getting tougher on drunk drivers. Under a new administrative policy announced in September 2012, the New York Department of Motor Vehicles will not issue or renew a driver's license for a person who has incurred five or more DWI convictions throughout a lifetime. Stricter rules will apply to license reinstatement The policy also denies a driver's license to anyone with three or more DWI convictions over a 25-year period plus another serious motor vehicle offense. When a driver with three or more ...

Reducing Car Accidents: Legal Restrictions For Safer Teen Driving

2012-11-22

Reducing car accidents: Legal restrictions for safer teen driving In August 2008 months of work by Connecticut's Teen Driving Task Force culminated when a new teen driving law took effect. Over four years later, Connecticut has come out near the top in two national studies on teen driving safety. The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the Governors Highway Safety Association found an alarming 11 percent increase nationwide in traffic deaths involving 16- and 17-year-old drivers. However, teen driver deaths in Connecticut have gone down by 91 percent over the past ...

How To Keep Your Business Secrets Safe

2012-11-22

How to keep your business secrets safe All companies have information that they need to protect -- and in some cases, the information is actually so vital that they it is the lifeblood of the company. If this information is disclosed, the company's very future may be on the line. The following are some strategies to help ensure that your business secrets remain a secret. Non-disclosure agreements A non-disclosure agreement is a contract signed by employees, which states that they are not allowed to disclose your company secrets without permission. The agreement ...

As The Patent Battle Rages On, Apple And Samsung Expand Their Claims

2012-11-22

As the patent battle rages on, Apple and Samsung expand their claims The ongoing legal battle between Apple and Samsung expanded its scope even further recently after a federal judge allowed Samsung to add the newly released iPhone 5 to the list of products alleged to have infringed on its patents. The court also ruled that Apple could amend its list of alleged patent infringements by Samsung to include the Jelly Bean operating system, along with newer Samsung products such as the U.S. version of the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note 10.1, PC World reported recently. According ...

Social Media use has Pitfalls for Divorcing North Carolinians

2012-11-22

Social media use has pitfalls for divorcing North Carolinians North Carolina couples who are going through divorce may experience a variety of emotions and feel the need to vent. Venting over coffee or a beer with a friend is one thing, but sharing feelings with the world through electronic media is another, and can lead to trouble. Social media communications are public According to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, divorce attorneys have seen a sharp rise in the use of evidence from social networking sites over the past few years. Whatever is posted ...

The Importance Of Estate Planning Through The Years

2012-11-22

The importance of estate planning through the years Thinking about what happens after death, disability or other tragedies is usually the last thing that a person wants to think about. However, if you do not plan for these events, you may leave your family or loved ones to decide such tough issues when they are in a stressful position. While estate planning is not the most appetizing thought, taking the time to form a cohesive plan can save your family and loved ones a lot of time in the future, regardless of which stage of life you are in. Your single years If ...

Recovering After a Car Accident

2012-11-22

Recovering After a Car Accident People injured in car accidents have options for recovery. Injuries and even deaths often result from car crashes and they affect the everyday life of the injured and their families. Death always has a devastating impact, but injuries can affect how or whether a person can work, their personalities and many other areas of people's lives. A recent car crash in southeast Houston took one man's life and seriously injured another man. According to myfoxhouston.com, the accident occurred at 2:40 in the morning and the men were only 23-years-old. ...

Budgeting To Meet Children's Needs After Divorce

2012-11-22

Budgeting to meet children's needs after divorce One of the most difficult challenges divorcing parents in Nevada may face is how to manage finances so that children are adequately provided for after their parents split. Even determining custody of children must be done with an eye to allocating the parents' resources fairly so that the children's interests are protected. The importance of budgeting The court will want to see a budget from each parent, with attention to meeting the financial needs of the children. Details are necessary in order to come up with ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Increase in alcohol deaths in England an ‘acute crisis’

Government urged to tackle inequality in ‘low-carbon tech’ like solar panels and electric cars

Moffitt-led international study finds new drug delivery system effective against rare eye cancer

Boston stroke neurologist elected new American Academy of Neurology president

Center for Open Science launches collaborative health research replication initiative

Crystal L. Mackall, MD, FAACR, recognized with the 2025 AACR-Cancer Research Institute Lloyd J. Old Award in Cancer Immunology

A novel strategy for detecting trace-level nanoplastics in aquatic environments: Multi-feature machine learning-enhanced SERS quantification leveraging the coffee ring effect