You need to find ways to save money during the divorce so you don’t end up going into debt or needing a second job. When your marriage is over, the last thing on your mind should be your money, but it usually is. You have to learn ways to protect yourself so that you have money to live on through the divorce and after the divorce. You will find yourself angry and confused after you have announced your split, but you shouldn’t feel overwhelmed about the money you may lose. Many people find out the hard way what divorce really means, and it usually means they leave you with half your stuff.
First, you should never get married without a prenup. If you don’t have the prenup, you will be in so much water if the divorce comes. You don’t need a prenup just if you’re rich, you need a prenup regardless of your assets. When it comes to your finances, why on earth take any chances of losing good, hard-earned money? Secondly, you need to know your finances throughout the marriage. You need to know where at least 80% of the money, if not all the money, goes.
You need to know your wealth. Your wealth is your assets minus your debts. If you have $10,000 in the bank, and you have a total of $50,000 (which is a combination of credit cards, mortgages, car payments, and other things that you may owe on), then you have $40,000 worth of debt, your wealth is nothing. However, if you own your own home and paid $40,000 for it, and have a couple thousand on credit and a couple grand left on a car payment, you have a lot of wealth that needs to be protected. Even if you have debt, you want to make sure that you don’t get stuck with it by protecting yourself with a clause in your prenup.
As for refinancing during the divorce, anything that the other person wants, make sure you take your name off the deed. If your cars are in both names, get the name taken off just so if they fall behind in payments, you don’t have to worry about your credit being ruined. Usually, the house has to be sold and divided so you shouldn’t have to do anything about your name on the deed. However, they can buy you out and then you will need to get your name off the deed and the mortgage.
To really know your finances you should get your credit report. Many credit vendors like credit card companies and credit lenders will let you know what your credit is for free. However, there is a $15 fee to know if you get it from a credit report company. You should also open your own bank accounts and always keep your money separate. This way you know what is yours and what is theirs. You will also want to keep your credit cards separate as well. This way you can keep your debt separate too.
When going through the divorce you will want to think about cutting them off your health benefits at work. This way you can save money, plus get them off your benefits completely. You will want to change beneficiaries of any policies that you may have with your mate as the beneficiary. If you took his name, you can file paperwork to regain your maiden name, however, it is costly; you may want to save this for later. You will also want to talk to your lawyer about the house. The house should, by rights, sell and the proceeds divided up.
