Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071410325 ISBN 13: 9780071410328

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education, 2004

A complete guide to financial self-defense for people facing divorce

Written by two noted divorce planning experts, this book arms readers with the knowledge and tools they need to make it through a divorce with their financial skins intact. Readers learn of all the financial risks and ramifications involved, as well as how to prepare themselves for any eventuality. And they get proven strategies for negotiating the best possible financial solution, along with valuable work sheets, checklists, and sample documents. Among other important lessons, readers learn how to:

• Construct a solid financial action plan when divorce seems imminent
• Get a complete picture of family finances, including the low down on a spouse's small business or intellectual assets
• Negotiate a win-win financial settlement
• Choose the best settlement method, from options including mediated, arbitrated, and collaborative agreements
• Avoid tax penalties and pitfalls and deal with retirement nest egg, 401(k), and SSI issues

From the Back Cover:

Revolutionary new recipes for dividing the divorce pie

Whether you've been stunned by your spouse's divorce atomic bombshell or have dropped one yourself, you must avoid its potentially fatal financial fallout. The Complete Guide to Protecting Your Financial Security When Getting a Divorce helps both men and women survive economically, and ultimately thrive, with actionable how-to instructions and explanations such as:

• Learn why an even split now is often anything but equitable later, and how to base a fair settlement on cash-flow and net-worth projections appropriate to your marriage's "economic history."
• Find out when and why mediation or arbitration, mostly do-it-yourself, or the new "collaborative-attorneys divorce" are preferable to traditional adversarial-attorney divorce, as well as determine needs for other specialized professional advice.
• Construct sold financial-action plans--for before, during and after the divorce--that control expenses and use optimal tax planning to preserve the maximum marital assets.
• Understand complex property and support issues such as commingled funds, both spouses' rights to pensions and social security, business valuation, creative management of the marital home, and front-loaded spousal support.

About the Author:

Alan Feigenbaum, C.F.P. (Chapel Hill, NC) has written regular columns and features for Bloomberg Wealth Manager, CBS Market- Watch, Worth Interactive and Raging Bull.

Heather Linton, C.P.A., C.F.P. (Chapel Hill, NC) is a certified divorce planner with 10 years of experience.