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.
A high-net-worth divorce is defined less by the size of the estate than by its complexity. Business interests, stock compensation, multiple properties, trusts, and large investment accounts each need their own valuation, and each carries different tax consequences. In Ohio, the same property divisio...
A business in a divorce is usually valued by a credentialed business valuator using some mix of three methods. They look at what the company earns, what similar companies sell for, and what its assets are worth. In Ohio, the marital share is generally the value created during the marriage, including...
Early in almost every divorce I work on, a number shows up before anyone has formally valued anything. Someone looks up the house online. Someone remembers roughly what the 401(k) said on the last statement. Someone does quick math at the kitchen table. And that number sticks.
Then the real numbers...
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...
A divorce mediator and a CDFA do different jobs. The mediator facilitates the conversation and helps you reach agreements, but does not analyze 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...
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...
A certified divorce coach is a divorce coach who has completed a structured training program through a recognized certifying body, passed a competency assessment, and agreed to follow that body's code of ethics. Divorce coaching is not a licensed profession, so there is no state board deciding who m...
Yes, women pay alimony. Alimony (spousal support) is gender-neutral, and a court can order either spouse to pay it based on financial need and ability to pay, not gender. Pew Research found that in 2022 wives were the primary or sole breadwinner in 16% of U.S. marriages and earned about the same as ...
An intentional divorce is one where you decide in advance how you want to move through the process, rather than reacting to whatever happens next. In practice it means choosing your process before conflict chooses it for you, gathering the financial facts before you negotiate, deciding which outcome...
The core difference is who is in the room. In collaborative divorce, each spouse has their own attorney and a team of professionals works together toward a settlement, with everyone signing an agreement not to litigate. In mediation, one neutral mediator facilitates and attorneys are optional. Colla...
During mediation, a CDFA builds the complete financial picture and stress-tests every proposal against it. That means analyzing assets and debts, working out how retirement accounts and pensions can actually be divided, identifying the tax consequences of options that look equivalent on paper, model...
One of the most complex aspects of divorce is the division of assets, particularly when it comes to protecting your inherited money in divorce. Inheritance, often steeped in sentimental value and of significant financial worth, is a treasure worth guarding. The way forward is paved with knowledge, s...