Money & Divorce: The Essential Roadmap to Mastering Financial Decisions: The Essential Roadmap to Mastering Financial Decisions

by Lili Vasileff

Overview

Most people head straight into divorce without preparing themselves for the journey that lies ahead. Whether or not the divorce is of your choosing, you need the necessary guidance and useful information.

Financial planning for the future is an essential part of every divorce settlement. Separating couples often face a significant financial transformation. The bottom line is that two households must now survive on the dollars that formerly supported one. Transition is a critical time when you need the most help to understand the pros and cons of your financial options, how to set priorities, and when to reach a settlement with confidence.

Money & Divorce: The Essential Roadmap to Mastering Financial Decisions will help you make informed and intelligent choices concerning financial issues in divorce. The book explains the fundamentals—illustrating how to set goals, deal with finances, navigate the legal process, and protect against unforeseen events.

Over the years, author Lili A. Vasileff has worked with thousands of couples and individuals to offer divorce financial planning before, during, and after divorce, as well as mediation, collaborative divorce, financial forensics, expert testimony in court, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and wealth management. Because every divorce is unique, expert guidance can often be the ace needed to effectively manage the settlement process and guarantee not just financial survival, but also success. This book is a valuable resource to help readers accomplish their goals with dignity, confidence, and a sense of security.

Praise for Money and Divorce

“Money and Divorce provides a comprehensive and practical guide to those contemplating divorce or suffering through it, and to attorneys engaged in the process. Unique and readable––Lili Vasileff has provided valuable assistance to the bar and the public.”

––Honorable Sondra Miller, Ret. Appellate Division 2d Dep’t. New York State; Chairperson of the Matrimonial Commission of the State of New York; Chief Counsel, McCarthy Fingar, White Plains, NY

“In a time where divorce is an everyday reality and more marriages fail than succeed, everyone is affected by the process. Whether you are the troubled spouse––or a loved one or friend of one––this book offers a primer of procedures, financial and pre-divorce planning, definitions of commonly used terms, do’s and don’ts, and shoulds and shouldn’ts that will remove the mystique of this family crisis. Succinctly, it is an invaluable resource. As a divorce lawyer of more than 50 years, I have never read a more excellent or detailed discussion of a topic that impacts at least 50 percent of our marriages and the failure of them. This excellent book is broken down to extremely well-defined topics and is recommended as an invaluable resource.”

––Arthur Balbirer, former President of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers; Founding Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers

“If you have questions and concerns about divorce and finances, Money and Divorce has the answers, tips, and cautions. Lili Vasileff, CFP, CDFA speaks to you in plain English, as if you are sitting together in her office. She goes over virtually every aspect of divorce finances, and answers your questions in a straightforward, no-nonsense, yet kind and thoughtful manner. You don't need a degree in finance or economics if you have this book and Lili's wisdom.”

––Jeff Zimmerman, Ph.D., ABPP Clinical Psychologist and co-author of Loving Your Children More Than You Hate Each Other: Powerful Tools for Navigating a High-Conflict Divorce (New Harbinger Publications)

“I participated in the review of Lili’s book, Money and Divorce, and find it very helpful for anyone contemplating or going through a divorce. The book helps any litigant understand the complexities of the financial aspects of divorce and the tools necessary to navigate through the process, and helps the reader comprehend why attorneys ask for the information they request. Every client going through their own family law case should read this book.”

––Lori W. Nelson, Alumni Relations Director, Universityof Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law; former Chair of the American Bar Association Family Law Section; former Utah State Bar President

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781634259927
Publisher:	American Bar Association
Publication date:	01/07/2018
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	784,348
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Over the past twenty five years, Lili has earned a name for herself as an accomplished financial expert in divorce. After her own divorce, and being a single parent of two young children, one of whom has special needs, Lili Vasileff, CFP®, CDFA™ was determined to make a difference in how couples and families experienced divorce. Lili founded Divorce and Money Matters with the key goal of educating, empowering and enabling individuals to make informed financial decisions to achieve financial security. Lili recognized a desperate need for financial advocacy during divorce and for carryover in the post divorce transition.

Lili is sought after for her experience in complicated financial issues and called into cases that have national recognition. Lili is a distinguished pioneer in the field of divorce and fee only financial planning. She supports clients with compassion and tenacity in litigation, mediation and collaborative divorce. She is a seasoned consulting expert for litigation support. After divorce, she provides comprehensive tailored personal financial planning and wealth management.

Lili received the national 2013 Pioneering Award for her outstanding public advocacy and leadership in the field of divorce financial planning. Lili is the President Emeritus of the Board of Directors of the national Association of Divorce Financial Planners and is a member of FPA, IDFA, IACP, and numerous Bar Associations. During her 15 year tenure as President of the ADFP, Lili successfully developed a small regional group of professionals into a national organization of over 6,000 accredited practitioners in US, Canada and several foreign countries. She is President and Founder of Allie’s Dream, Inc., (www.alliesdream.org), a nonprofit organization serving young adults with physical and cognitive disabilities.

She is co-author of “The Ultimate Divorce Organizer: The Complete Guide to Achieving the Best Legal, Financial and Personal Outcome to Divorce” in 2011. She is co-author of the chapter “Complex Compensation Issues In Divorce” in the book “Forensic Accounting in Matrimonial Divorce”, published by Wiley & Sons in 2006.

Quoted and interviewed in many publications, radio, and TV, Lili is a featured contributor for CNN Money, CNBC, Channel 12, Journal of Financial Planning, Bloomberg News, Reuters, SmartMoney Magazine, Kiplingers Personal Finance, AARP Magazine, Working Mother Magazine, MORE, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times Sunday Business Section, Morningstar’s article series on “How to be an Expert Witness”, the Financial Times, Investment News, Elle Magazine and many more. She presently is a featured financial divorce expert to Time.com and Money.com, NY Times bucks.blog, for Huffington Post online, for Filife.com, (personal finance by Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal), for USAA online dedicated to military families, and for Life & Health Advisor by AARP, and for FPA Consumer Website. She is invited regularly to author articles for several national law journals, including The New York Law Review and the Domestic Law Journal.

Email: [e-mail] www.divorcematters.com

Table of Contents

Preface v

About the Author vii

Chapter 1 How This Book Can Help You: Your Financial Guide to Divorce 1

Chapter 2 The First Steps: What You Should Consider When Contemplating Divorce 9

Chapter 3 You Have Decided to Divorce, Now What? An Outline of the Divorce Process 25

Chapter 4 Preparoing for Your Financial Divorce 41

Chapter 5 The Financial Phases of Divorce 53

Chapter 6 What If I Don't Know …? How Do I …? The Unknowns That Keep You Awake at Night 83

Chapter 7 Splitting Up Your Property: The Balancing Act 95

Chapter 8 Financial Investments: What Are They? 105

Chapter 9 Retirement Assets: What Makes Them Special 121

Chapter 10 What Is a Contingent Interest in the Marital Estate? 135

Chapter 11 Real Property and Your House: Sell It, Keep It, or Transfer It? 145

Chapter 12 Child Support 167

Chapter 13 Spousal Support, Also Known as Alimony 179

Chapter 14 Debt, Credit, and Credit Worthiness: How to Protect Your Credit 199

Chapter 15 Divorce and Children with Special Needs 213

Chapter 16 College: The Effects of Divorce on College Financing and Financial Aid 225

Chapter 17 Taxes and Divorce 233

Chapter 18 Getting to "Yes": Negotiating a Settlement 245

Chapter 19 The Light at the End of the Tunnel: Your Financial Situation after Divorce 253

Glossary 265

Index 285