Financial Planning and Divorce

Dealing with money is often a complicated and painful part of divorce. The articles and resources listed below may offer some ideas if you are going through a divorce/separation and you have questions about your finances. 

Making a Clean Financial Break at Divorce - This pamphlet, offered by Myvesta, non-profit counseling agency, examines property, debt, and financial planning issues to consider if you are contemplating or in the middle of a separation or divorce. Myvesta, located in Rockville, MD offers comprehensive financial crisis counseling and management services in-person or by telephone.

Please note that people who are interested in advertising their businesses wrote most of the articles.  The ideas in these articles represent the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the website sponsors.  

Tax Aspects of Divorce: The Basics - This article describes issues that couples should include in their written separation agreement, such as exemptions for dependents, filing status, final tax returns, and how to handle income from joint bank and brokerage accounts.

Divorce Financial Planning - Many divorcing couples have assets in the form of retirement funds.  Unfortunately, going through a divorce may force one to withdraw some of these funds to obtain attorneys, pay for a new place to stay, along with a lot of other expenses persons face when going through a divorce.  This article by David Twenhafel, a certified divorce planner, explains how you may avoid the 10% IRS Penalty Tax if you wish to cash out on your retirement assets prior to age 59. 

"13 Big Divorce Financial Mistakes Not to Make in Your Divorce Planning" - A checklist of things that you should not do when planning the financial aspects of your divorce from David Twenhafel, a certified divorce planner.   The Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts - This for-profit company offers Certified Divorce Financial Analysts to help you create a complete financial plan for yourself.  Using software they designed, the CDFAs can create various financial scenarios regarding you and your ex-spouses' finances to help you make a decision on the financial aspects of the divorce.   

The MSN Money Central page, a for profit web page that has a library with articles, written by family finance experts and attorneys, concerning the financial aspects of divorce called "Cope with Separation."  The opinions contained in these articles are not necessarily the opinions and are not endorsed by of the editors of MLAN.   The web page has articles on topics that include:

• Creating a new budget
• Financial tips for the suddenly single
• How to limit divorce's financial sting
• 10 strategies to divide the property in divorce
• No-fault divorce leaves fewer financial scars
• Alimony payments offer a less taxing alternative
• Single again? You should revise your estate plan

• Tax tips for women involved in a divorce

Source: Maryland Legal Assistance Network, updated by the Maryland State Law Library (MSLL).

Last legal review 4/18/08 (PLL/M.A.J.)

About this website. The Maryland State Law Library, a court-related agency of the Maryland Judiciary, sponsors this site. The website was developed (1999-2007) as part of an access to justice initiative by the Maryland Legal Assistance Network (MLAN) in collaboration with a number of legal services providers serving low and moderate income Marylanders.  In the absence of file-specific attribution or copyright, the Maryland State Law Library may hold the copyright to parts of this website. You are free to copy the information for your own use or for other non-commercial purposes with the following language “Source: Maryland's People’s Law Library – www.peoples-law.org. © Maryland State Law Library, 2007.”

Comments?  

Need help with the legal terms?

Understanding Legal Research