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.
Editor's note: The mortgage lending guidance in this post reflects the expertise of a Certified Divorce Lending Specialist and covers principles that hold true regardless of market conditions. Specific figures such as interest rates and home values shift over time. Always confirm current qualificati...
Divorce can be one of the most stressful transitions in life, especially when it comes to dividing assets. In many marriages, one spouse handles the finances, including investments, while the other may not be as involved. This can make dividing investment accounts in divorce particularly overwhelmin...
When working through the financial details of a divorce, one option that may come up is whether to take—or offer—a lump sum alimony payment instead of ongoing monthly spousal support. While it’s not always the most pressing issue in divorce negotiations, it can be an important consideration, especia...
Are you worried about splitting assets in a divorce?
Worrying over financial decisions is normal on an average day, but when going through a divorce, it can be paralyzing. Unfortunately, the fear around these issues is completely warranted. You only have one chance to get it right, and your divorce ...
Most women I work with did not call a financial professional the day they decided to divorce. They called months later, after the attorney, after the first ugly conversation, after a settlement proposal was already sitting on the table.
By then, a lot of the useful decisions have already been made....
A financial neutral is a financial expert, usually a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, hired jointly by both spouses in a collaborative divorce. They gather and organize the financial picture, model what different settlement options mean in the short and long term, and present that analysis to bo...
Bring three years of tax returns, recent pay stubs, and current statements for every bank, investment, retirement, and loan account, plus mortgage statements, insurance and annuity policies, Social Security estimates, and profit and loss statements for any business. Organize them in one place before...
One of the questions I hear most often is:
“How do I know if my spouse is hiding money?”
Sometimes that question comes with a very specific concern.
Maybe a bonus suddenly disappeared. Maybe a business is involved. Maybe bank statements have become harder to access. Maybe your spouse’s lifestyle doe...
If you find yourself currently contemplating the possibility of getting a divorce, it's crucial to ensure that you are well-prepared for the journey that lies ahead. Going through a divorce can be an emotionally challenging and complex process, but with the right preparation, you can navigate it mor...
Creating a post-divorce budget is one of the most important financial steps you can take after your marriage ends. But most women approach it in a way that's almost guaranteed to fail.
They restrict everything. They cut joylessly. They build a plan based on fear instead of intention. And within a fe...
After more than a decade of helping women navigate divorce, I can tell you that the clients who come out of the process feeling the most confident and in control are almost always the ones who prepared financially before they ever filed paperwork. It does not matter whether the divorce was their ide...
Divorce is expensive. In a 2019 Martindale-Nolo Research survey, people who hired a lawyer for a full divorce paid an average of $11,300 in attorneys' fees, with a median of $7,000. The biggest driver of higher costs was the number of contested issues and whether the couple went to trial. Transition...
