Financial issues are among the most common reasons why couples decide to end a marriage. It’s not necessarily about having money or not having money, either. As one recent article notes, financial issues that lead to divorce can involve poor financial communication, keeping secrets about money and having different money values.
If you are splitting up and these are among the issues that affected your marriage, then it can be important that you know how they might also affect your divorce.
Poor financial communication
Maybe you and your soon-to-be ex never talked about money; maybe you couldn’t agree on budgets; maybe one of you managed the finances and didn’t talk to the other about certain issues.
If you and your partner were not good about talking about money, then you can expect to have similar difficulty during divorce — especially when mediating the divorce. To address this, you may want to hire a financial analyst to help you sort out finances. A mediator can help you discuss difficult topics, and your attorney can help you negotiate a fair settlement.
Keeping secrets
If you or your ex was dishonest with money during your marriage, you may need to take extra precautions during divorce. Again, having a financial analyst on your team can be critical in ensuring full disclosure of financial information.
Having different money values
You might value saving money while your ex values spending money, or vice versa. Under these circumstances, it can be difficult to negotiate matters like property division because you can disagree on what items are worth. This can happen when it comes to retirement accounts, real estate and collections.
As such, you should make a list of the assets you value most. Be prepared to make concessions if you want to keep these assets. And you can work out a consistent approach to property valuations to keep the process as objective as possible.
Financial issues affect many couples across California, and they may be one of the reasons why people decide to divorce. In these situations, it is wise to understand how they might affect the process and plan accordingly.