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Dividing Dollars in Divorce
You finally made the jump. After much deliberation, you have decided that it is time to divorce. You’ve come to terms with the decision emotionally, maybe even moved out of the home that you and your spouse once shared. After making this crucial decision, it is now time to face a more technical aspect of divorce: divvying up the money. If you litigate your divorce (meaning you go to court and your attorney represents you and your interests in front of a judge, as opposed to mediation or collaborative law), a judge will be the final decision-maker in the divorce decree or settlement agreement. So how do you decide how to divide your finances? After all, you and your spouse have presumably worked hard and earned together. How do you begin to divide your earnings?
One helpful first step is to list all of the expenses generated by your soon-to-be divided household. These expenses include the individual expenses of both you and your spouse and also the expenses generated by your children, if there are any. You may also want to include the expenses that you will incur in moving out. Additionally, you may want to include the projected amount of a new mortgage or cost of rent, when compiling these numbers.
You will also need to list all sources of income. Are both you and your spouse working? Do either of you have residual income that should be included? Do you have income that you will receive in the future that you are not presently receiving? These are the types of income sources that you will want to include to ensure that you are creating a full and accurate picture of your financial situation.
It is also helpful to have an accurate estimate of you and your spouse’s net worth, meaning all the total of your debts subtracted from the total of your assets. If either spouse has a business, it may be necessary to have an outside party estimate the value of that business when assessing that particular spouses net worth as well.
After creating this complete and accurate financial profile of both parties and of the family as a whole, the parties will then present this information to the judge who will ultimately decided how the debts and assets will be divided. The judge may consider many different factors including the earning potential of each spouse and which spouse will have physical custody of any existing children.
The end of a marriage is an emotionally charged process. It is important to have a well-trained attorney to help you think clearly through this process and protect your interests. The skilled attorneys at the Fairell Firm will do just that. Serving families in the metro Atlanta area, the Fairell Firm lawyers assist their clients through tough times and work tirelessly to achieve satisfactory outcomes for their clients. Call today at 678.973.2803 or contact us to schedule a consultation
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