Preparation Can Give You More Options

Your Preparation Roadmap

Ten areas to work through. You do not have to do them in order, and you do not have to do them all at once.

1. Financial documents. Tax returns, pay stubs, account statements, mortgage documents, insurance policies. Three years is a reasonable starting point.

2. Income and expenses. What comes in each month, what goes out, and which costs are genuinely fixed. This becomes the basis for every support conversation later.

3. Assets and debts. Everything either of you owns or owes, including anything you only vaguely know about.

4. Credit protection. Pull your own credit report. Know which accounts are joint, which are yours, and which are in your name as an authorized user only.

5. Insurance. Health, life, disability, auto, home. Know what exists, who is covered, and who pays.

6. Retirement accounts. Account types matter more than balances here. A pension, a 401k, and a Roth IRA divide very differently.

7. The family home. Mortgage balance, rough market value, monthly carrying cost, and whether refinancing on one income is realistic.

8. Business interests. If either of you owns a business or a share of one, valuation will become a significant issue.

9. Your professional team. An attorney, a financial professional, a therapist or coach. You may not need all of them, but you should know who does what.

10. Immediate practical matters. Where mail goes, which passwords are shared, whether you have access to funds in your own name.

One Thing to Be Careful About

Preparing well is not the same as acting unilaterally. Moving money, transferring assets, closing joint accounts, or emptying a shared account before you have legal advice can damage your credibility and your case, even when your intentions are reasonable.

Gather information freely. Talk to an attorney before you move anything.

Work Through These

• A preparation for divorce checklist
• How to protect your credit during divorce: twelve steps
• How to prepare financially for divorce, step by step
• Hidden assets: how to spot them and protect yourself
• How to talk to your divorce attorney when nobody is listening
• Mediation or collaborative divorce: how to choose
• Divorce and your mortgage, before you refinance
• Four ways to stay organised through the process
• The most common financial mistakes in divorce

See all resources for this stage

Where We Fit

Divorce financial planning. We build the financial picture your attorney will work from: what you own, what it is worth, what it costs to keep, and what different settlements would mean for you in five and fifteen years.

Divorce coaching. For the parts that are not spreadsheets. Preparing for hard conversations, staying organised, deciding what you actually want, and keeping your footing.

Mediation. If you and your spouse are both open to resolving this without litigation, a mediation consultation is worth having before either of you retains counsel.

We are not a law firm. We work alongside your attorney, and clients often find that arriving prepared reduces their legal fees.