Saturday, December 29, 2012

Top 5 Ways to Save Money During Your Divorce

By:  Carole L. Chiamp

Divorce is a difficult process but you have choices to control your divorce.  Although your attorney is your expert, there is much you can do to keep your assets instead of having to turn them over in payment of attorney fees.

1.    Talk to your spouse instead of making all communication go through your attorney.  Your attorney can help you understand the law.  She can help you keep your emotions in check.  However, if you are using your a Ignore warning ttorney to discuss issues like who will drive the children to a party or what you should do about cooking dinner or not for your spouse you need to take a look at how much you are paying for that advice.

2.    Voluntarily exchange information about income, assets, retirement plans, income tax returns and debt.  Turn over copies of all original documents in your possession.  Put them in order.  Provide them in an organized fashion to your spouse and your attorney.
3.     Don’t waste time having your attorney seek documents from your spouse which you can obtain yourself.  For example, if you were the partner who did a spreadsheet and/or paid the bills, don’t ask your attorney to obtain this information from your spouse.

4.     Don’t fight about inconsequential issues.  Think about the movie “The War of the Roses” and don’t duplicate the conduct in it.  If an item your spouse wants costs $200 and you don’t want your spouse to have it, don’t spend $600 in attorney fees trying to get it.

5.     Be sure you know what your attorney is doing for you and why she is doing it.  A good way is not make numerous inquiries of your attorney regarding the status of your case.  Have her provide you with a copy of all correspondence and emails about your case.  Then only if you don’t understand will you need to make an inquiry.

Your attorney is working for you, but in the end you are the one who will bear the cost of the divorce and the result.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Sesame Street to discuss topic of divorce

In an upcoming episode, Sesame Street will air a segment about the topic of divorce in an effort to help children deal with this difficult subject, which is a reality for many.  This is a first for Sesame Street.

Here is a sneak peek of the segment: