Brazos County Archives - Tracy Stewart, CPA

Know Your Options: Reduce Your Divorce Costs

June 24, 2013 by Tracy

Bryan/College Station couples who are contemplating divorce struggle with the fear of running through all their money. You have heard stories of normal people like you having scorch the earth divorces, huge attorney fees and an empty retirement account when it is over. You can avoid those horrors by understanding your divorce options.

At the basic level there are just three kinds of divorce processes. You and your spouse can choose the best on for you. I’ll give you my take on these from the vantage point of a financial advisor, not an attorney.

Do it yourself

This is the kitchen table option. I have seen this work best when couples have no minor children, no mortgage and no retirement savings. This option can be done without attorneys, if you have a very simple situation. I have seen couples with just one of those attributes (children, mortgage or retirement accounts) try to go the DIY route and crater before they could reach an agreement – but after they argued themselves into a tense situation. Your situation really does need to be simpler than simple for this process to work.

Lawyer up for litigation

This is the traditional route. You hire a lawyer and you start the old fashioned process. Each side demands the same information from each other. Attorney fees climb as each attorney prepares for trial. If you and your spouse don’t agree on everything, you will end up in mediation – and if that fails, you end up court. The cost of that is shocking plus you have lost control of the outcome. As bad as I have made this sound, there are cases that belong in litigation.

Get a collaborative law divorce

A Brazos County collaborative law divorce is one that operates under the protocols of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas. You want to work with an attorney who has been trained by the Institute. (I have been in cases with untrained attorneys. The divorces were painful and expensive.) In a collaborative law case, you are in control of the outcome, the speed and the cost. You learn how to co-parent with your ex-spouse. Everything is focused on helping the two of you resolve your differences with dignity and more forward to your newly defined lives. Everyone is sensitive to your costs and work with you to minimize the financial hit.

When you are ready to look for a divorce attorney in the Brazos County, contact me. I can help you find the divorce attorney who best fits your preferences.

Use Mutual Interests to Save Money in Divorce

June 17, 2013 by Tracy Leave a Comment

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Understanding your mutual interests will help you and your spouse to negotiate a satisfactory divorce settlement. Traditional litigation does not foster mutual interests. Collaborative law divorces use mutual interests to get couples to quick, lower cost resolution. Savvy couples seek out the Brazos County collaborative law professionals. The lower cost of collaborative divorces means longer financial security for each spouse.

When couples head into divorce, rarely do they chat about their mutual interests. They usually lawyer-up and entrench in their respective positions. Then the long, slow process begins. Attorneys write letters back and forth. In Brazos County, they use snail mail. One begins to wonder if the attorneys are purposely dragging these divorces out as long as they can.

I’ve seen hundreds of divorces in Houston, Bryan, College Station and Austin. I have observed that in the litigation divorce style, the couple cannot see that they have mutual interests. In the collaborative law divorces, the couples use their mutual interests to get to a faster, lower cost settlement.

The collaborative divorce couples got themselves into a better process because they knew what to ask each attorney they interviewed. Each spouse asked attorneys whether they are collaboratively trained. Those attorneys who do both litigated and collaborative divorces have a wider range of tools to help their clients.

Collaboratively trained attorneys also understand that when couples work together in the collaborative process to reach a settlement based on their mutual interests, the case goes faster and their clients reach better settlements. All this means lower cost to the couple. That translates to financial security.

If you are concerned about dropping a lot of money on a divorce, work towards a collaborative settlement that is based on mutual interests. For help in effectively defining and achieving your mutual interests or in finding the best collaborative attorneys for you, contact me at stewart@texasdivorcecpa.com.

Be Brief: Reduce Divorce Costs

May 28, 2013 by Tracy Leave a Comment

Whether in Houston or College Station, clients everywhere want to keep their divorce costs down. I encourage my clients to spend wisely but not too generously on their divorce. I want them to have a divorce that sticks but also have money left over to fund their own retirement. There are some easy ways to keep your costs down. All you have to do is keep your focus.

Focus on what you want to accomplish every time you contact your lawyer. Attorneys charge for their time. That includes time to read and reply to emails. Include only the essential information in your emails. I recommend that you ask no more than two questions in an email. Isolate each question with some white space around it. Consider numbering them: “Question 1 …. Question 2.” Make it easy for your attorney to see your questions because that will make it easier and faster to answer them. This saves you money.

Do not vent or ramble. This is true in emails, phone calls and face-to-face meetings. Of course you are in emotional turmoil, but your attorney is not your therapist. So focus on business. Save your emotional outbursts for your sympathetic friends or your therapist’s couch.

For phone calls and meetings, have a list of your questions with the most important questions at the top. If your meeting or call ends before you get through all your questions, at least you will have addressed the most important ones.

If you are looking for a divorce attorney in the Brazos Valley, contact me. I can help you find the divorce attorney that best fits your situation.

Divorce Mediation: Learn from the Boy Scouts

May 6, 2013 by Tracy Leave a Comment

To increase your odds of getting what you want in mediation, take a tip from the Boys Scouts: Be Prepared. Most of my Brazos County divorces include mediation. When you are prepared, you have a better chance of a successful outcome.

Develop a realistic settlement range. At the low end, know what your worst-case settlement looks like. At the high end, what is your dream settlement? Calculate your break-even point. These steps will prepare you to respond to various proposals that will come from your spouse during the mediation.

Identify what is essential to discuss at mediation. Make a list. Review it with your lawyer a few weeks before the mediation. The issues don’t have to be financial. One of my clients had a strong emotional issue regarding the old videotapes of her daughter’s early childhood. The mediation did not end until she and her husband resolved the issues surrounding those tapes.

Bring your starting offer. If you initiated the divorce, come to mediation with a written offer. Get the settlement discussions started right away. Your starting offer should not be your bottom line settlement scenario. Consult with your lawyer to pull this initial offer from somewhere within your realistic settlement range.

If you are getting a divorce in Brazos County or nearby counties, I can refer you to excellent divorce lawyers and mediators.