Divorce usually the largest single financial transaction of people’s lives. The following tips offer assistance on how to go about it in the most effective and non-debilitating manner though the most helpful tip is obtaining a divorce lawyer.

1. Cancel ALL joint credit cards

Even if a court rules that you aren’t responsible for charges made by your spouse after you separate, the credit card company can hold you responsible while things are sorted. Better safe than sorry, they say.

2. Use joint funds to pay family expenses

Begin your divorce with these expenses already paid, rather than arguing with your spouse about who should pay them later. This includes automobile repair, clothing, and home necessities.

3. Start what you wish to continue

Judges usually enforce the status quo, so go wild: get braces for the kids, go to school, or receive medical treatments.

4. Open a personal post office box

Confidential information can be sent to you there, and it provides a stable mailing address as your life changes.

5. Open up a separate bank account. 

Accumulate money so you can get through the divorce. However, you are required to eventually tell your soon-to-be ex-spouse about the funds.

6. Apply for credit cards in your own name. 

These cards allow you to establish credit in your own name, to use when you cancel your joint accounts, and during the divorce.

7. For fast cash, borrow from parents, a credit union, or your 401 (k) 

The cost of these sources anvil credit card interest rates

8. Copy ALL papers that do with money now so you won’t have to subpoena them later.

This includes all tax returns, loan applications, wills, trusts, financial statements, banking information, loan documents, credit card statements, deeds to real property, car registration, insurance inventories, and all insurance policies.

9. Gather financial information

Even if you are unsure of divorce, knowing your finances will make you a better partner if the two of you stay together, and will help you get the best settlement possible if you don’t.

10. Copy records that you can use to trace your separate property, such as an inheritance.

If you can document them, the assets remain yours.

For more information, check out: divorce 360

If you are divorcing in New York, the court considers several factors when determining which spouse receives and pays alimony. The court will be considering the individual earnings and sources of income of both you and your spouse. Courts also consider which parent has spent more time taking care of the children and whether or not there was domestic violence, among other factors. The court also considers who will be raising the child post-divorce and how the divorce will affect that parent’s ability to financially support the child.

Whether or not you will have to make alimony payments does largely rest on your job, and this has resulted in a trend in alimony payments. Today, more and more women are earning more money than their husbands, making them more likely to be the one paying alimony. This may be because more women are getting higher paid jobs or because with the nation’s weak economy more men are losing their jobs, making their wives the breadwinners.

Source: News Junky Journal

Though a divorce is certainly not a planned or ideal event, there are better times than others to get a divorce. Many couples choose divorce based on their current financial situation or the environment around them.

So what should you look out for? New York actually has a lower divorce rates than other states, which experts claim can be partially attributed to the state’s poor economy. With higher taxes and fewer jobs, individual spouses feel less confident on their ability to live and thrive on their own. In addition to paying for the divorce itself, post-divorce you may have to purchase or rent a new house, car, furniture, etc., all of which can be costly.

Connected to a bad economy, an unstable real estate market, can also make getting a divorce more difficult. If you or your spouse is selling your former home, you are likely not going to sell it for your ideal price. A good idea would be to have one spouse stay in the house so you do not have to deal with the market.

Having a bad credit history is not good when you are getting a divorce. Post-divorce, you may find yourself looking for a new place to live, opening a new credit card, or interviewing for a new job. Al of these may be affected if you have a bad credit report. It also can hurt you when settling child custody and financial support arrangements.

Many couples also wait until their children are older to divorce. If you and your spouse choose to divorce with a child under 18, you are going to have to settle custody and financial support. A divorce will affect your ability to pay to support the child and even larger expenses, such as college, may be affected.

If you choose to split up under any of these conditions, pay attention to how those circumstances will affect your life during and after divorce.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

We don’t need a professional psychologist to confirm the chaotic reign of emotions during divorce.

As reported by Jennifer Wallis, the vice president of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Central Oklahoma, credit becomes a tool in the war against peaceful separation.

One of her clients‘ ex-husband has destroyed her credit during the finalization of their divorce buy failing to uphold his agreement to pay the credit card companies.

He couldn’t pick a better time too, considering she now needs to establish her own financial identity. Yet, due to his sabotage, bad credit will burden the process of obtaining the confidence of mortgage companies, auto loans, and insurance companies.

To ensure your post-divorce credit status, Bankrate lists five ways.

Create a Budget

Ann Estes, president of the Atlantic and Heartland regions for ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions, says “You’re moving from a dual-income household to a single-income budget.” The only way to recover from the change is to make difficult financial decisions.

On top of the new budget should be the calculation of an affordable new house with taxes, insurance, and utility bills accounted for.

Know Your Debt and Credit Lines

Pull up a credit report to see the accounts you and your spouse opened, nothing which    are individual, joint, or authorized.

An individual account means sole responsibility for the debt. A joint account means your spouse shares responsibility in the payment. An authorized account means the account is under one individual’s name who allows the other to use card without responsibility for the balance.

Remove Authorized Users 

There’s nothing worse than being required to pay off your ex-spouse’s shopping spree bill at the Home Depot. To avoid this fate, review your credit report for the authorized user accounts, and then call the credit card issuer to ask for the name to be removed.

It’s also important to remove yourself as an authorized user because it can factor into your credit score.

Separate Joint Accounts

“Many people don’t understand that a divorce decree doesn’t change the contract you have with your lender,” says Rod Griffin, director of public education at Experian. “The only way to remove yourself (from a joint account) is going through the lender.”

He recommends paying off the accounts and closing them before the divorce but an alternative is to transfer them into individual ones.

To do so, transfer the balance of one credit card to another that is in a sole person’s name and close the joint account. Alternately, you can also refinance a mortgage under one name.

If splitting the accounts becomes too difficult, divide the responsibilities of the joint debt according to what works best for your situation. For instance, the person who lives in the house pays the mortgage and the person who gets the car pays the auto loan.

Keep Watch Over Joint Accounts

Ask your lender to send you a copy of the account’s statement each money, even if your spouse has been responsible.

You could also pull a free credit report from a different agency every four months to confirm all accounts are being paid on time. Through AnnualCreditReport.com, federal law allows you to request a free one every 12 months.

If your spouse isn’t making the payments, find a divorce attorney. The court will likely force your spouse to pay the legal fees and reimburse any pocket expenses if the creditor tails you.

For more information, check out: Fox Business

Couples divorcing today need to consider some of the income and tax consequences that may come from real estate transactions during a divorce.  Real Estate Divorce Specialist Robert Bailey-Lemansky estimates that about 70% of splits involve some form of real estate transaction.

With today’s market, a house can sit on the market for a long time or even sell at a loss. Being on the market longer can make the divorce proceedings last longer as well.

Bailey-Lemansky suggests fairly pricing the home and lowering the price in order to increase interest in the listed home. He also suggests trying to limit disagreements and schedule showings at times that are good for both parties.

Source: U.S. Politics Today

If you just moved to New York you may be able to get a divorce.  The short answer is: “It depends…”

It all depends on whether you meet New York State’s residency requirements.

New York law (NY Dom Rel Law §230) is a little tricky when it comes to its residency requirements.  I have simplified the law in a prior post regarding New York State Divorce Residency Requirements.

Please read the above linked post for the exact details on New York’s residency requirements.  If your moving to New York falls within one of the options explained in that post, then you meet the residency requirementsand may get divorced in New York State.

If you have any further divorce related questions, our law office offers free, no obligation, consultations.  Contact us at (866) 830-2064 to claim your free initial consultation today…

Negotiating favorable divorce settlements is an art form.  It takes a high degree of skill and experience to perfect.  A lawyer entering a divorce negotiation not only needs to have a mastery of the law but needs to be skilled in the art of negotiation.  Hiring the right attorney to represent you through divorce negotiations can potentially save you thousands of dollars in your divorce.

A good negotiator can negotiate directly with your spouse if he or she has not yet retained an attorney.  If your spouse has hired an attorney, then you definitely want to have an attorney of your own to negotiate directly with the opposing attorney.  Remember, your spouse’s lawyer represents them not you.  They have their vest interest in mind, not yours.  Don’t fall for a smooth lawyer who claims that he or she has your best interest in mind too.  This is not only a lie, but is unethical…

Having a divorce lawyer on your side during any negotiation process is a plus.  An attorney can be persuasive and achieve results that you didn’t even know were possible.  There is no guarantee that your lawyer will be able to achieve the exact results that you desire, but you certainly will have a better chance at achieving such results with him or her on your side.

A good negotiator can potentially convince your spouse:

• that an uncontested divorce is the best way to go
• to pay you spousal maintenance to avoid a costly contested divorce
• that a compromise is necessary regarding child custody and visitation
• that you should receive a certain asset to avoid costly litigation
• that your spouse should take responsibility for a certain liability or debt thereby releasing you from such responsibility
• that you and your spouse are better off reaching an agreed upon settlement outside of court than leave the results up to the court

If you think that your impending divorce could benefit from having a negotiating lawyer on your side, please call our toll-free number (866) 830-2064 to schedule your free divorce consultation now…

I get phone calls every day where a woman or man calls with the following type of story.  I hate getting these calls.  Not because we choose not to represent them, but because I tell them the truth, the harsh reality of New York divorce law, and the truth really sucks… (pardon my language, but its true)

Monique gets served with divorce papers from her husband Tommy’s attorney.  She reads the uppercase words explaining the documents: SUMMONS WITH NOTICE.  The papers go on to state that Tommy is alleging that Monique abandoned him and treated him in a cruel and inhuman manner.

Wait a minute… “He abandoned me!” she exclaims outloud.  “Cruel and what, total b.s.” she thinks.

Tommy had just agreed with Monique that their most affordable option would be to get an uncontested divorce.  Now, unknown to Monique, Tommy’s mother is footing his divorce attorney bill and is encouraging him to “protect himself.”

Monique finds herself in a situation which is all too common.  Tommy hasn’t been giving her any money since he took off last October. She can’t afford the average contested divorce attorney retainer of $4,500.00.  If she doesn’t respond Tommy will get a default judgment against her and she will lose all her legal rights.  The clock is ticking…

Monique finds our law firm’s number on Google by typing in “affordable uncontested divorce ny.”  She sets up a free consultation and the first thing she wants to know is what she should she do.  Does she qualify for an uncontested divorce?

This is the situation that I hate.  The harsh reality is:

• her divorce was filed against her in a contested manner
• she needs to come up with the money to hire a contested divorce attorney
• we might be able to help her, but her divorce will not cost the usual $499 that we charge for an uncontested divorce
• her husband is likely looking to screw her at every turn and she needs legal representation to protect her rights
• she needs a lawyer in order to file an Order to Show Cause for Pendente Lite Relief to request that the court order Tommy to pay her spousal support and pay her attorney’s fees

If it is in any way possible, we try to work with you if you find yourself in this situation and cannot afford a contested divorce attorney’s retainer fee.

Unfortunately, whether your divorce is contested versus uncontested is not your choice alone.  Your spouse must be on board…

If you are in a similar situation, please call our law office for your free divorce consultation to learn how we can help you in an affordable manner. (866) 830-2064.

Our law office continues to strive to make the legal system accessible to you, regardless of your current financial situation.  With the economy putting the hard press on all of us, I try to be as flexible as possible.  Not everyone needs to get divorced has the same financial flexibility as Tiger Woods or John Edwards whose names have recently been scattered across divorce news.

Our uncontested divorce rate starts at just $499 and is one of the most reasonable divorce fees in all New York State.  Our usual payment plan option for our already affordable uncontested divorce package is that we accept 50% up front and require the remainder before we officially file your divorce documents with the court.

If you feel that your situation is deserving of a more flexible payment plan, by all means let us know.  We are willing to work with you within limits.  Again, we will just hold off on officially filing your divorce documents until we are paid in full.

These arrangements allow us to put food on our families’ tables while giving you the leeway to so the same.  Everyone is happier this way.

If you are not sure if you can afford a New York uncontested divorce, contact our law office at (866) 830-2064 to set up your free divorce consultation today…

The Law Office of David Centeno, PLLC is able to serve all New York State (which is extremely large, when it comes to states) because we focus solely on New York uncontested divorces.

New York uncontested divorces (versus a contested or disputed divorce):

• does not require any court appearances by you or us
• is much more affordable than a contested divorce (you will save thousands of dollars)
• is much faster than a contested divorce (we will save you time)
• is much less painful than a contested divorce (where spouses often want to air the couple’s dirty laundry, sling nasty allegations at one another, and fight tooth and nail over every last dime or minute with their children)

Because New York uncontested divorce doesn’t require court appearances, we are able to serve all New York State.  If, in the unlikely but possible situation, where your divorce becomes contested we will refer your divorce to one of our colleagues in our network who focus on contested divorces.

Additionally, if your divorce becomes contested, we will refund any unearned portion of our fee.  This goes above and beyond our 100% satisfaction guarantee, where we will also refund any unearned portion of our fee if you are unsatisfied with our representation.  No questions asked.

We offer one of the most affordable uncontested divorce rates in all of New York State, just $499…

If you want to see if you qualify for a New York uncontested divorce, or just have some divorce questions, call our toll-free number now and schedule your free divorce consultation. (866) 830-2064…