The Intentional Divorce Library
Divorce comes with more financial questions than anyone expects. This is where you'll find real answers on asset division, budgeting, retirement, and the mistakes that quietly cost women the most, written by a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst who has helped clients navigate exactly what you're facing now.
No fluff, no fear tactics. Just the information you need to make clear-eyed decisions and protect the life you're building next.
Not sure where to start?
Every article here is written for a particular moment. Start with the stage that matches where you are, and you will find the handful of pieces that actually apply to you.
- I am considering divorce. Can I afford it, what happens to the house, what should I know before talking to an attorney.
- I am preparing for divorce. Documents, credit, insurance, retirement accounts, and choosing your professional team.
- I am going through divorce. The house, support, dividing retirement, QDROs, taxes, and evaluating a settlement.
- My divorce is final. Retitling assets, confirming the QDRO, beneficiaries, rebuilding cash flow and credit.
Browsing by topic instead? Every category is listed in the sidebar, from QDROs and the family home to co-parenting and life after divorce.
This question comes up more than you would think, usually because a car has picked the worst possible moment to die.
The honest answer is that it depends, and the things it depends on are worth understanding before you sign anything. A car is often the largest purchase a woman makes while her divorc...
If you have walked out of a meeting with your attorney knowing that a lot was said but not what was decided, you are in good company. Knowing how to talk to your divorce attorney is a skill, and almost no one is taught it before they need it.
There are three moves that help, all borrowed from basic...
Let me ask you something.
If your spouse stopped paying a joint credit card tomorrow, would you know about it before the late payment appeared on your credit report?
For many people, the honest answer is no.
Credit is easy to overlook during divorce. You are focused on where you will live, how asset...
Nobody hands you a guide for this part.
If you are looking for books for grieving a divorce, I am so glad you found your way here. You already get plenty of advice about lawyers. About paperwork. About splitting accounts and dividing up a life you built together. But the grief? The quiet, heavy, out...
Whether you're in the thick of it or just starting to find your footing on the other side, these episodes were made for you.
If you've been searching for honest, helpful guidance on divorce, the kind that doesn't sugarcoat the hard parts but also doesn't leave you drowning in them, you're in the rig...
After more than 20 years of working with divorcing clients as a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, I have seen a lot. I have sat across the table from women who were sharp, capable, and completely blindsided by the financial consequences of decisions they made during their divorce. Not because the...
If you have found yourself quietly Googling "can I afford to get divorced" at midnight, or spending your lunch break reading about what divorce actually costs, you are not alone. And you are not approaching this the wrong way.
Midlife women considering divorce are often carrying a lot: decades of sh...
A divorce mediator and a CDFA do different jobs. The mediator facilitates the conversation and helps you reach agreements, but does not analyse finances or give legal advice. A Certified Divorce Financial Analyst models the tax, cash flow, and long-term consequences of the options on the table. Coup...
Ohio does not license divorce mediators, so credentials vary widely and anyone may use the title. What to look for instead: specific divorce mediation experience rather than general dispute resolution, completion of the 40-hour specialized family mediation training the Supreme Court of Ohio certifie...
When you're in the middle of a divorce, everyone seems to have an opinion about what you should do. Get a lawyer. See a therapist. Talk to your pastor. Call your sister.
The advice is well-meaning, but it can also leave you more confused than when you started.
One question I hear a lot from the peo...
One of the most common questions I hear from women sitting across from me is some version of: "Can I actually afford to do this?"
They are not asking because they want to stay in a painful marriage. They are asking because they are terrified of the financial unknown. They have heard horror stories. ...
If you are going through a divorce in Ohio, or even just starting to think about it, I want you to know something right away: your financial future is not over. It is not ruined. And it is certainly not out of your control. What it is, honestly, is at a crossroads. And the decisions you make right n...
