Nobody Warns You About These 3 Divorce Money Mistakes Until It’s Too Late
Splitting an estate and building a settlement are two different jobs. This guide is about the second one.
A free guide from Leanne Ozaine, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and financial planner, 20 years in practice. Ten pages, no fluff. Written for the window when you can still change what you sign.
“Having her in my corner was the best decision I made.” Betsy H. · Google review
Three villains. And what to do about each one.
The Blindfold: the bank doesn’t care what your decree says.
Your settlement can assign the Visa, the HELOC, the mortgage to your spouse. The lender was never a party to your divorce and is not bound by one word of it. If your name is on that debt, they can still come to you. Before you sign, that debt can be closed or refinanced out of the settlement itself. After, your only move is enforcement.
The Fairness Phantom: equal on paper, unequal in life.
Two people can each walk away with $500,000 and live completely different lives. Cash spends. A 401(k) is locked and taxed on the way out. Home equity does not buy groceries. You are not splitting each asset down the middle; you are dividing a marital estate, and that has far more room in it than most people realize.
The Clock: pressure to sign is a signal, not a deadline.
People do not sign bad agreements because they stopped caring. They sign because they are exhausted, and something lands that looks close enough. The clock does not force a bad decision. It makes you stop asking one more question. The guide gives you the questions to ask before you agree to any trade.
Plus the one thing Leanne tells everybody first: get a year of bank statements now, while you still have access.
Written by the person attorneys call about the money.
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