How to Get Your Fair Share in a Divorce

The decision to divorce your spouse can be very emotional, traumatic, and exhausting. You may not make the best choices for your future - you may be too emotionally involved to think that far ahead. Learn how to get your fair share and protect your assets, belongings, and money during a divorce.

Instructions

1. Get a good attorney. This is worth paying for! Don't just pick one out of the phone book. Interview different attorneys. (Most offer a free consultation.) Your attorney will be working for you - so you need to make sure she is qualified, experienced, and knows what she is doing. Ask for referrals and contact previous clients for references.

2. Educate yourself on the divorce laws in your state. This can be found on the internet. A divorce is a life-changing event and no one else is going look out for your interests. You have to protect yourself and know what you are entitled to.

3. Gather up your records. Tax returns, W-2 forms, bank statements, investment statements, car titles, property deeds. If you received an inheritance or windfall during the marriage, show proof of that. You want to be able to show what you contributed in order to receive your fair share of the assets.

4. Don't give up all your cash. Your spouse or his/her attorney may suggest dividing the assets giving you the home and physical property and the other all of the monetary assets. Bad idea. Never give up all your cash. You will be starting over and need financial resources to pay for a place to live, pay your attorney fees, and other living expenses.

5. If you have been a stay at home mom raising the kids during any part of the marriage, make sure your attorney asks for alimony. Remember, you stayed out of the work force to raise children - you gave up wage earning opportunities to better your children's lives. You should not be penalized for this. You may only receive alimony for a limited time period, but some is better than nothing.

6. If you will receive alimony or child support, make sure your attorney builds in a raise or increase every few years. You must account for inflation and the rising cost of living. Just like at a job, most people receive cost of living raises - you should get that, too.

7. Consider benefits like health insurance, dental insurance, and other perks for you and your children. If you have been a stay at home mom and not been employed, these types of benefits will be very expensive to obtain. You can probably get them through your employer, but it will take time for you to find a job and get everything in place. Make sure you are covered by your spouse's health insurance, at least temporarily, until you can get your own.

8. If children are involved, build in provisions for how their college education will be paid for, how cars and auto insurance will be paid for, and other major expenses that come in their teen years.

9. Ask your divorced friends about their divorces. Ask where they made mistakes or where they would have done something different. If this is your first divorce, you have no idea what is down the road and ignorance will hurt you. Ask lots of questions! Take your time, you will get thru this. The key is to make good informed choices that will benefit you in the future.

Tips & Warnings

• Ignorance is the kiss of death during a divorce. Do your research!

• If you are in a heated situation and in physical danger, call the police or go to a shelter. Nothing is more important than your safety, and the safety of your children.

Resources

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