By its very nature, a Pennsylvania divorce involves a division of income and assets while each party plans for a new life without their partner. Typically, the parties each retain an attorney and try to come to terms on a settlement, but other issues are in play as well. For one, some people confronting a divorce have an urge to spend, as if some new clothes or gifts for the kids will make everyone feel better. While it is important to pay attention to one’s feelings, some note it is more important to focus on personal finances as they relate to the road ahead.
In the typical Pennsylvania divorce, each party may confront the future with less income. A two-income household often becomes a one-income household. Those that spent freely while married, especially before the recession hit, may now find that funds previously available for dinners out and trips to the movies are no longer there.
One suggestion by some is to plan not only for the divorce on the immediate horizon but for the financial future ahead. Hiring a financial advisor may be an important step. It also may mean negotiating a divorce settlement with an understanding of what it will take financially to survive on one’s own.
These are not cookie cutter issues. Those confronting a divorce in Pennsylvania may benefit from seeking the right advice to help with examining the current financial circumstances of a marriage and to take stock of what the future will hold economically. Being aware of those two crucial factors may go a long ways toward achieving a settlement that is both fair and envisions the new life to come.
Source: Detroit Free Press, “Before divorce, get financially prepared,” Hadley Malcolmusa, Sept. 11, 2012
