Protecting yourself financially is crucial when you are going through a divorce. Major family law offers legal advice to those navigating all the hurdles in divorce proceedings, including advice on financial matters, and ensuring clients are receiving what they are entitled to financially. In this article, we highlight the most important steps in ensuring you are doing everything possible to protect yourself financially during a divorce.
Get a copy of your credit report
Knowing where you stand in terms of your own credit is useful at any point in your life. When you are amid a divorce, it is imperative you find out what your credit report looks like. When you have joint financial ties with your ex, their credit score will impact yours and vice versa. Your credit score affects your ability to borrow money, to gain a tenancy agreement for a new house or acquire finance for a new car, for example. All the things you may need to begin a new life after divorce. When you obtain your report through one of the many credit report providers available, check it thoroughly for errors and contact them to make necessary amendments.
Open a new account in your name
As soon as you have agreed on the separation with your ex, open a new bank account in your own name. You can use this to put in half of the existing funds from your joint account. Also ensure that any money or regular or one-off payments going into your joint account are redirected to your new one. Although it may feel that you are provoking a situation, if you don’t it can be a cause for regret when your ex has taken more than their fair share from it. Finances linked to joint accounts are often key instigators of acrimonious divorces.
Sort out your credit cards and other debts
In a similar vein, you should also manage your joint credit cards. This is important because when you have a joint credit card, you are both liable for the outstanding balance, regardless of who made the purchase. If you have the money available to pay off the debts together then do this as soon as you can, then close the accounts straight away. Dividing the debt is another option with the view of getting them paid and closed at the earliest convenience.
Draw a line in the sand of your divorce
Although divorce may feel like the end of something, it is a new start to your life. Ensuring that you get the ball rolling as soon as you can means that there can be no area of confusion when it comes to separating finances. It can help in terms of your own income, making it clear that the money you earned after the separation date is yours. Divorce proceedings can take a while to conclude. By ensuring that your separation is official and documented, you are helping to protect your money from then on, even if divorce proceedings come much later.
Conclusion
There are lots of considerations to make about your finances when going through a divorce. Therefore, take a little time to reflect on what you want the outcomes to be. Your assets will be divided 50/50 to begin with during court proceedings, so bear this in mind. Ask yourself specific questions about your future, such as whether you really want to live in your marital home after you have separated. Reflect on the amount of money you will need for child maintenance and consider writing yourself a post-divorce plan for your finances, including the needs of all your family.
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