Oct 13, 2024 | Divorce, Financial Impact of Divorce
When you’re going through a divorce, one of the biggest decisions you’ll find yourself making— is what becomes of the family home? You’ve spent the better part of your marriage, and your adult life, making this house a home, and a safe haven for your family. But, now that your family is going to be looking a little bit different— what is the right choice for this, no longer communal, space? Do you keep it? Does your spouse? Or, do you sell the home and go your separate ways? Every family will make this choice, and do so in a different way…
Family Home: Where Do We Go From Here?
This decision is emotional for all parties involved. After all, you bought the family home, or built it, with a vision of building a family there. Little feet on the hardwood, grandchildren, and growing old. But, now, you’re left to decide where you go from here. Maybe you want the house right now, or your spouse does. Or, maybe neither of you want to take it on by yourself…
Taking on the debts of a home by yourself…
While, in the moment, you might decide that you want this house. After all, you put a lot of love, blood, sweat, and tears into making the family home what it is today. You don’t just want to pass off all that work to the highest bidder. But, before you make the decision, and buy your spouse out, you have to make a few decisions.
Chiefly, you have to decide if you can afford the debts of a home by yourself. Utilities, upkeep, accidentals… There is a lot of financial hardship that goes into owning a home, especially a home built for an entire family.
Do you want to give up other assets, or a nest egg, in exchange for this house?
You might want the family home. If so, you might have to either buy your spouse out of their portion, or give some other large asset over in exchange. Therefore, you have to decide if this specific house is worth giving up something else potentially beneficial. Ultimately, you have to decide what it’s worth to you.
A family home has a lot of memories…
While you might love your home, and the memories you’ve made here— not all of them are good. Furthermore, not all of those memories are going to be fond. You must consider if you really want to spend the years following a divorce in a family home that represents your marriage. Do you want to sleep in the same room, maybe even the same bed, that you spent the best and worst days of your marriage in?
Making the decision to sell the family home can be a difficult one. But, it can make for a cleaner break and a fresh start for the both of you. Consider taking the money you make from it, and buy something better suited to your new lifestyle. We wish you luck in this difficult time, offer our condolences for your divorce, and extend our services if you find that you may need them.
Mar 19, 2023 | Divorce, Financial Impact of Divorce
Living on a single income after divorce can be a bit of a financial shock. Going from one income to two plus the added cost of the divorce process can leave you feeling overwhelmed. It’s a good idea to re-examine your budget and set spending limits for yourself. In addition, explore assistance programs, or talk to your tax advisor about potential benefits. You can explore work-from-home options for a second job, like tutoring or freelance writing. And finally, it’s a good time to refresh yourself on the basics of healthy spending habits. While it can be a bit of an adjustment to begin living on a single income, hopefully, you will get used to things quickly and be able to save some money.
Living on a Single Income After Divorce: Making Ends Meet
Re-Examine Budget
If you are living on a single income after divorce, it’s a good idea to re-examine your budget. Look at your monthly income and debts. Things might be slightly different now thanks to divorce expenses as well as things like alimony and child support. Create a sensible budget so that you know where every dollar that you make is going. Don’t forget to try to save for an emergency fund in case you hit on hard times in the future.
Explore Assistance Programs and Tax Options
There are government assistance programs and tax breaks for parents living on a single income after divorce. You might be able to get a grant, apply for food stamps, or explore other financial options. Speaking with a professional can be helpful in this situation because navigating these types of programs can be very difficult. Consider speaking with an accountant, CPA, or financial planner about your options.
Explore Work-From-Home Options
If you are needing to come up with some extra money to afford living on a single income after divorce, you can explore work-from-home options. While you might not find a lucrative career, finding a way to make a few extra dollars each month can be helpful. For example, driving for one of the delivery services, tutoring or online teaching, and freelance writing.
Develop Healthy Spending Habits
Finally, when living on a single income after divorce, it’s important to refresh yourself on the basics of healthy spending habits. For example, always pay off credit cards on time and make on-time payments for things like rent and utilities. This will protect your credit score. In addition, cut back on frivolous spendings like shopping or restaurants. Try to save a percentage of every paycheck and don’t forget to build up emergency savings.
Hopefully, you can adjust quickly to living on a single income after divorce. The divorce process can be lengthy but it can also be very expensive. It can take a while to recover from it financially. Re-examine your budget so that you know exactly how much money is coming in and going out each month. Additionally, explore government assistance programs and check with your CPA for tax credit possibilities. Explore stay-at-home jobs or positions you can do in your spare time to make some extra money on the side. And finally, go back to the basics of healthy spending by protecting your credit score and cutting out frivolous spending. Hopefully, you’ll be able to get yourself back on track financially so that you can begin saving for the future.
Feb 12, 2023 | Divorce, Financial Impact of Divorce
Divorce can be both stressful and somewhat costly. As a result, you may find that you need some financial support post-divorce. It’s important to know what your options are, and how you can even ask those close to you for help…
How to Ask for Financial Support Post-Divorce: Helpful Steps
Explore your choices
When you’re looking for financial support post-divorce, it’s good to consider what your choices are. For example, some people may turn to their bank for a loan. While these can be helpful in the moment, how much you can receive will depend on things like your credit score. This will also impact any sort of interest rate you’ll need to deal with.
If your work has laid you off, then you can also seek out unemployment benefits. These will help you get some cash flow while you look for a new job. However, many will wonder about asking their friends and family. While they may have helped you before, bringing money into the mix can complicate things, so it’s good to know how to make this process easier for everyone.
Be prepared
If you want to ask your friends and family for financial support post-divorce, you need to be prepared. Just going to them and asking for money will get you nowhere and strain your relationship. Rather, if you really want their help, you should show them that by getting yourself ready.
In particular, it’s good to set up a budget and spending plan. Figure out just exactly how much money you may need and for what. It’s also helpful to see if there’s any sort of debt forgiveness or restructuring you can do too. When you prepare like this, it shows your friends and family that you’re serious about using the money properly.
Set up terms
You shouldn’t treat getting financial support post-divorce from friends and family any differently than you would from other places. It can be easy to think that because you know each other, that it doesn’t need to be as serious. However, when money is involved, you want to make sure both sides know and understand what’s expected of the other.
In fact, even if they say they don’t want you to pay them back, it’s good to tell them you will. This creates some accountability on your end and ensures you’ll use the money to get yourself situation. Once you are, you can then pay them back, even if it was just a small amount they gave you.
Jul 9, 2022 | Financial Impact of Divorce, Marriage
It’s important to have financial discussions before marriage because one of the main reasons for divorce is money. Couples that cannot get on the same page with spending often have a lot of tension in their marriage. Therefore, ironing out the details of your financial health before going down the aisle is a great way to pave the way for a smoother relationship. Make sure to discuss your goals for the future, as well as your spending habits. Create a budget together and brainstorm ways to stick to it. Finally, if you are in debt, be upfront about it and work together to tackle it. Hopefully, you and your fiancé can set the stage for many more financial discussions in the future.
Financial Discussions Before Marriage: Getting Prepared
Why?
It’s incredibly important to have financial discussions before marriage. Money can be one of the biggest stressors in our lives. And especially in relationships. Some studies estimate that nearly half of divorces are caused by financial stress. Discussions about your joint wealth should be a very regular part of your marriage, so setting the stage early can be helpful.
Things to Discuss
It’s important to get on the same page with one another when having financial discussions before marriage. You and your fiancé should talk about your spending habits as well as your financial goals for the future. Think about if you’d like to have children one day and how you’ll pay for things like daycare and schooling. If you are considering a prenup, you will need to begin getting things in motion for it before you are married because it can take a little while.
Creating a Budget
You and your fiancé can begin practicing healthy spending habits early on in your engagement. When you have financial discussions before marriage, make sure to discuss budgeting. Having a budget that takes into account all of your monthly expenses and incomes is a great step towards beginning to save money together. It also allows you both to keep track of your finances.
Getting Out of Debt
Finally, no financial discussions before marriage would be complete without talking about debt. If either you or your fiancé is coming into a relationship with significant debt, you need to be upfront and honest about it. Whether it’s from school, medical costs, unhealthy spending habits, or anything else, your fiancé will be taking it on as well. The two of you need to discuss ways to pay down debt quickly.
Financial discussions before marriage are very helpful because it sets the stage for an ongoing openness about money. You and your spouse will both need to be aware of your financial health as a family. You also need to set goals together like saving for retirement, vacationing, or paying off debt. Because money can be a stressor in marriages, starting these conversations before you go down the aisle can help you both be more comfortable with money talks. Be upfront about debt and work on a solution together. And create a budget together so you have a better handle on finances. Hopefully, by paving the way for healthy discussions about money, you won’t allow it to become a stressor in your marriage.
May 20, 2022 | Financial Impact of Divorce, Post-divorce life
Should you end up with the family home after your divorce, you’ve got a few options at your disposal. One of these could be deciding to sell the home. Still, home selling post-divorce isn’t always easy. However, a few simple things can help your home stand out on the market…
Home Selling Post-Divorce: Helpful Steps
Determine market value
One of the main issues with home selling post-divorce is pricing. Not a lot of people understand what the actual market value of their home is. As such, they figure that their home will be around the same sort of value when they bought it. In reality, it could be that their home is either worth less, or sometimes even more than they believe.
In order to get as best of a price as possible, it’s helpful to use a property appraiser. These professionals will determine your home’s value based on a number of factors. These can include the age, square footage, features, location, and price of other homes in the area. Once you have a good price, it becomes a lot easier to sell your home.
Prep it properly
First impressions are crucial for home selling post-divorce. If you can’t make a good first impression, you’ll find that your home is going to struggle on the market. As such, it’s crucial that you do some initial prep work to help make your home stand out.
This mainly comes down to doing some repairs and cleaning. Touching up some rough spots can be a good investment, as it’ll make your home more appealing compared to others. Same with making sure it’s clean and presentable. Taking that extra time will go a long way in swaying on-the-fence buyers into being seriously interested.
Pick a good agent
Trying to do home selling post-divorce by yourself is a daunting task. There’s a whole lot of details which can be hard to keep track of. This is why it’s good to make use of a real estate agent. At the same time, you need to make sure that you pick the right kind of agent for you.
For starters, you should ensure that they have good reviews and feedback. Also, make sure that they can work with your schedule. As you may have a lot to still take care of, having a flexible agent is a serious plus. This will help you sell your home the right way and in a way which works for you.
