The Financial Realities Of Going Through A Divorce

When we marry the love of our lives ? our soul mates ? we expect that relationship to last a lifetime. Unfortunately, that just isn't always the case. Sometimes things simply do not work out. Time goes by and people change. One partner or the other or both want to dissolve the union.

When a couple marries, they join financially as well as emotionally. Dissolving a marriage is messy ? emotionally and financially. The longer a marriage lasts, and when children are involved, the messier emotionally and financially it gets to dissolve a marriage.

The best advice that I can give here is to do everything possible to save the marriage. Employ a marriage counselor, or seek the counsel of clergy. Do everything that you can to work things out because it is better and less expensive financially as well as mentally and emotionally.

Now, if divorce is inevitable, the more cordial the proceedings are, the less the emotional toll, as well as the financial toll, will be. Personally, I don't believe that there is any such thing as a "friendly" divorce, but it is best for all concerned to keep a cool head.

The first reality that both parties in a divorce must accept is that things have changed for the worse financially for both parties. There are new expenses; lawyer's fees, a new rental, two sets of utility bills, child support payments, alimony payments, etc. Unfortunately, most people are not really prepared for the financial blow of a divorce. It isn't cheap, and it isn't as easy as it looks.

Another cold, hard fact of divorce is that each party is not necessarily going to get half of the accumulated assets. It doesn't work like that. Most people assume that half of the accumulated assets belong to them, but divorce courts see things differently. Rarely are incomes and potential earning abilities equal. Courts take that fact into consideration. Courts are also most concerned with the welfare of the children if there are children involved.

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