Taking the Next Steps Post-Divorce
When you are ready with the divorce package and are a step away from a new life without your ex-partner, everything seems to be over and you are almost relaxed and surely devastated. But the truth is that it is not the moment to let things go their way. Your primary concern should be your financial stability, only being sure that you may move forward and forget about the past.
So, don’t hurry with farewells to your divorce attorney, since he/she may be handy in settling and performing financial deals. Still, you are not obliged to use the services of the same person. You may feel exhausted from each other and wish to break up any mutual business as fast as possible. So, go on and find a financial advisor to help you with a steady and promising financial future.
What Has Been Done?
After you have completed do-it-yourself legal forms, ended up with the divorce issues, and have passed through a couple of post-divorce steps, you have already made the basement for financial stability.
Completing the first two steps means that you are done with the following issues:
- updating wills and testaments;
- making changes to life insurance agreement;
- dealing with responsibility for medical decisions;
- splitting retirement accounts;
- dividing real estate or profits from its sale.
- Apart from those vital decisions, you might have already dealt with possession issues.
- changing the details of all kinds of personal and joint accounts;
- providing conditions for fund transfers;
- dividing rights and separating documents for motor vehicles, jewelry, real estate, business and professional interests, personal properties, and other assets.
If you are done with all documentation, conditions, and details of dividing property and assets, you are ready to pass on to settling personal financial comfort and safety, including income and debts.
What to Do with Debts?
It is a very good thing if you cleared out issues with mutual debts and credit accounts throughout divorce document preparation services or settled them with your attorney’s or financial advisor’s assistance. Still, there may be a lot of cracks and violated details, which will be used by your ex to sabotage you or get a benefit from your lack of attention to vital details.
So, you have to check all the options and conditions properly to exclude any misunderstandings and surprises.
You should start with your credit cards, student loans, and debts. First of all, get ensured that all joint accounts are closed or the name of your ex was removed. Check, if you have changed all the significant details, including e-mails, passwords, authorized users, and accounts. Control the performance of the divorce agreement conditions, including accounts closure, funds, and debts transfer and payoffs. Double-check the responsibilities distribution over the debts and payments.
You’d better also ask for a credit report. This way you can control the performance of the agreement, closure of the accounts, and transfers. You should also check your accounts for unauthorized access from time to time to be aware of possible threats.
The thing is that you have to handle all the necessary information that may affect your financial situation to be prepared and armed against any unpleasant issues.
What to Do with Income?
When you get divorce papers signed you have already a view of your income situation, still drilling the details and getting all the points under personal control is a good idea. Your financial stability should be your primary concern, especially after the divorce, so get professional assistance and manage everything properly.
If your ex-spouse has agreed or has been forced into spousal support, it is you who have to know all the details and follow their performance. So, check on all the conditions to avoid cheating on the part of your ex. The conditions you should care about will include start and end date, the way of payment, the possibility of termination, its details, and so on. Until you know these details, you may feel safe of your ex to support part of your income for a set period of time.
If you have mutual children who stay with you, child support is another vivid part of the family income you have to handle wisely. Put your eye on the following details: start and end date, the way of payment, extra documents and conditions to receive the payment, and report about its exposure. Care about your children’s financial safety and it will be easier for you to supply them with all the necessary things.
Don’t Stand Aside
Thinking that a divorce agreement will supply you with financial steadiness without you being bothered about that, you may face serious financial hurdles in post-divorce life. That is why it is strongly advisable to cooperate with professionals to settle all the details and learn to manage your financial stability on your own. Put in decent efforts to control your budget, debts, and income to always stay on the safe side and avoid unpleasant situations.