Dealing With Financial Impacts After Divorce

   Divorce and money are intertwined.  As such, no one can think about divorce without thinking about how their finances will be affected in one way or the other. The fact that divorce is financially stressful is enough to send one thinking about getting another job after the divorce. Statistics show that many divorced people try to look for another source of income to maintain the same standard of living prior to divorce. If you have divorced, the below guide can help you take charge of your financial situation after divorce.

 

 What Will Affect Your Finances?

 The divorce process is time-consuming and expensive. That’s why it’s always better to take care of your finances as you think about your future. One best way to handle a divorce and ensure you control your cost would be to consult the best divorce lawyer in Toronto. Look at it this way, since there is no one size fit for all divorce cases, your lawyer may recommend you to mediate or choose collaboration for your divorce. A lawyer helps to look through your issues and advise on the loopholes that may cause you to spend more as you part ways. This is because it’s not possible to make sound decisions when in a crisis. It would help if you considered the below financial realities to have a smooth divorce:

·         You may not be able to recover your finances after divorce.

·         Your lifestyle completely changes.

·         You may be required to share your income with your spouse and children.

·         You may leave your home to your spouse, and you will spend more getting and maintaining a second home.

·         There will be tax consequences

  While the above is a reality, there are ways you can do to ensure you will not be financially unstable after divorce.

 

How To Prepare For Your Financial Life After Divorce

The changes to what you are entitled to pay will be affected by how you see your financial cycle. But with better monitoring of your spending habits, you can prepare for a better future after divorceif you:

·         Fit child support in your budget: One of the lingering expenses even after the divorce is child support. Your money becomes more squeezed if there are court-ordered support orders. It becomes challenging if you and your ex are fighting over support issues. If after divorce, you find yourself stuck with expenses that may push you financially down within no time, it’s better to speak to an experienced family lawyer for child support payments modifications

·         Consider change of alimony: In some divorce cases, half of the marital assets are given to the ex who is not financially stable. To ensure this doesn’t take a financial toll on you if you are the high income earning spouse, you can request the judge to figure out the alimony payments and consider the duration of payments. But this will depend on your ex-spouse income potential after divorce. Things that would warrant the change of alimony would be your ex remarrying, increase in your ex income, among other things.

·         Divide the debts accordingly:  One good thing with divorce is that it can change the amount of debt to be paid in your name. If you had joint debt, you should make sure you are not tasked with debt unnecessarily. Ideally, couples should split debts equally after divorce, but in a contested divorce where the court makes decisions, the judge may be inclined to assign more debt to the spouse who earns more. Your lawyer can guide you to divide your debt through the process of equalization payment, which is the money paid by one partner to the other after separation.

·         Get your financial records organized:  If you can keep your financial records such as income on assets, among other issues that affect your finances organized, you can save a lot on cost. It’s better to have them kept electronically.

·         Get a lawyer to help you fight alimony, child custody, child support, and any other issue that can help to minimize the impact of divorce on your finances.

 

You Need A Lawyer

 Whether you went for an uncontested divorce or contested, your lawyer is the best person to assist you on how finances can affect your life after divorce. In addition to your lawyer, you can choose to have a financial
analyst who may guide you on how to go about your current and future financial state. Before starting up your divorce proceedings, make your choices carefully to ensure you don’t make long-term mistakes.

 Any divorce brings up an endless uncertainty about the future. With the financial strain, one can feel that it’s hard to try to pick up after changes in circumstances. One way you can ensure you stay on the hook is to prove the change of circumstances. Anything that would warrant child support, alimony, or any other expenses will likely be allowed if the judge can rule out that this would not affect your children’s best interest.