Personal finances can trip you up in a divorce

On Behalf of | Apr 23, 2020 | Family Law |

Couples who are getting divorced in Tennessee overlook personal finances at their own peril. Any mistakes that they make during a divorce may stay with them for a long time as the divorce agreement locks in things such as asset division and support arrangements. If they fail to plan their finances properly, they may be left without enough money for each month.

Devoting too much money to housing each month can keep a spouse from having money for everything else, and this is exactly what happens when they try too hard to stay in the family home. The last thing that a person wants is to become “house poor” because it implies that they are coming up short elsewhere solely because they are stretching to stay in the home. Another planning failure comes from not anticipating that there may be taxes owed on certain asset sales. Sometimes, the property settlement will require that property be sold and it will result in the obligation to pay capital gains tax.

Another error comes from the failure to prepare a new budget to reflect the new post-divorce reality. Even if there is a budget it may reflect assumptions from the old life before the divorce. However, things have now changed since the same two salaries must be used to support two separate residences.

A divorce attorney could be instrumental in helping their client look ahead while dealing with the present. This may mean that they plot out where the client will be in the future and then work backward using the divorce agreement. It is often difficult for a spouse to focus ahead given the fact that they are dealing with dramatic life changes. They might need professional legal counsel to alert them to things that they may be overlooking in their divorce.