divorce costs Archives - Tracy Stewart, CPA

How much will this divorce cost?

May 2, 2014 by Tracy Leave a Comment

I hear questions from people who come to me for divorce financial advice. No matter whether we are talking about College Station or Houston, the answer is always “it depends.”

It depends upon which divorce process you choose. Do it yourself, litigation, mediation or collaborative. Even the do it yourself can be expensive if you are not fully aware of the complexities of your financial situation. Don’t be like most people. Don’t assume your situation is simple.

It depends upon how cooperative you and your spouse are going to be with each other. Will you compromise quickly? Will you fight over the vacation souvenirs? (Yes, I saw that happen.)

It depends upon whether you are counting the future hidden costs of incomplete information. Don’t be focused only on the present. Look ahead at the possible financial gotchas that will bite you if you shortcut your divorce. Hire competent professionals: attorney, divorce CPA and child specialist.

It depends upon whether you hire the cheapest or the most expensive attorney. Don’t do either. Hire an attorney with average hourly rates. Ask other professionals for recommendations. Your friends and colleagues will give you names, but that doesn’t mean their favorite is the right fit for you.

It depends upon how organized you are. The more organized, the more you can save on fees.

New York Times Divorce Tips

August 13, 2013 by Tracy Leave a Comment

The rich and famous are seeing the benefits of out-of-court divorce settlement. They have the money to slog it out in court, but in the past few years, more of them choose not to do so. Last Saturday in a New York Times article, columnist Paul Sullivan delved into the lessons we can learn from such famous divorcing couples as Rupert and Wendi Murdoch.

Mr. Sullivan interviewed me on dividing up assets in divorce. Specifically he wanted to know the best and worst ways people go about sorting out the money part of a divorce. He notes in his column there are four areas to be considered in a divorce: agreements, assets, children and fees. All these points apply not just to the rich and famous, but also to normal people like you and me. Near the end of the article, Sullivan quotes me on the advantages of collaborative law divorce in out-of-court settlements.

Low Cost Divorce

August 5, 2013 by Tracy Leave a Comment

Are you looking for a clean, quick divorce in Bryan/College Station that avoids expensive attorney fees? Your answer is the CPA-driven early intervention mediation. Another name for this is “let’s get it done without wasting money.”

Is this right for you?

You should seriously consider this option if you both answer yes to the following questions.

Are you both on reasonable speaking terms?
Do you both believe you can reach mutual agreements?
Do you both want financial advice about your property division and how it affects your future?
Do you want to arrange your settlement agreement to avoid income tax problems?
Are you ready to move at a quick pace?

Why a CPA mediator?

Attorneys are great with the legal issues, but not so great with the financial issues.

I met a disappointed ex-husband whose Bryan attorney hadn’t told him about the risks of not being able to buy a new home after the divorce. Had he known about this, he would have negotiated differently for the property settlement. He cannot qualify for a mortgage on a new home as long as his name is still on the mortgage tied to the former marital home. His ex-wife is in no hurry to refinance the mortgage.

A New York City divorce attorney found my website and has been calling me to consult on divorce cases. Last year I taught him about the Internal Revenue Code rules on alimony recapture. That kept his client out of hot water with the IRS.

There are many more financial issues that a divorce CPA mediator can identify during mediation. This expertise can help you avoid nasty post-divorce financial surprises.

Who writes the divorce decree?

Just as attorneys shouldn’t pretend to be CPAs, accountants shouldn’t pretend to be attorneys. After I help the two of you have a successful mediation on property and children issues, I recommend two reasonable attorneys who want to write your divorce documents. I pick these Bryan/College Station divorce attorneys carefully for their efficiency and their cooperative style. They will advise you on legal matters, but they won’t try to undo your agreement and burn through your savings account with large legal fees.

If you would like to know more about getting your divorce done without wasting money, ask me about mediating your settlement. Drop me an email at stewart@texasdivorcecpa.com.

Why Collaborative Law Divorces Save You Time, Money and Hassle

July 22, 2013 by Tracy Leave a Comment

The collaborative law divorce process is the preferred process of educated couples seeking divorce. Like you, they want to save time, money and hassle. These couples like the benefit of being able to make decisions with the help of experienced collaborative professionals. These couples like being in control.

Collaborative couples don’t have to wait for lawyer responses or court dates. They can wind up their divorce at their own pace. When they have obligations in their “real” lives, they can schedule team meetings around those events. Their professional team works around the couple’s schedules instead of the court dictating their schedules.

Most collaborative alumni tell me they are now communicating better than when they were married. This is because they selected a Mental Health Professional for their team who taught them how to effectively communicate as co-parents.

Collaborative couples select a single neutral CPA who understands their financial situation. The neutral financial professional analyzes the finances to maximize how the redesigned family will cover the children’s expenses and spousal support. The collaboratively trained CPA helps the couple decide how to stretch their limited funds to benefit the entire family.

If you would like to learn more about collaborative law divorce options in Bryan/College Station, just let me know.

How to Keep Control of Your Divorce Costs

July 8, 2013 by Tracy Leave a Comment

Divorce costs can spiral out of control if you don’t keep track of them. There are two easy steps to keeping control of your divorce costs. Whether you live in Bryan/College Station or Houston, these steps will work for you.

In a collaborative law divorce case, you will know at all times what your combined expenses are. It is part of the transparency of the collaborative process. Unfortunately, that is not the situation with traditional litigated cases. Finding out what your spouse’s expenses have been and will be is a challenging task in a litigated case.

The first step in controlling your divorce costs is to choose the collaborative law divorce process. Spending money on such items as valuing the real estate or the family business is a decision discussed in meetings. The issues regarding whether and how to incur costs are openly discussed in joint meetings with attorneys and the neutral CPA until both spouses understand the pros and cons and come to a mutual agreement.

The best way to control costs is to continually see what they are. The smartest collaborative divorce couples with whom I have worked were the ones who opened a new checking account just to pay the divorce bills. They moved money into this new account and then tracked what they were spending via the new account. If they paid for a divorce bill with a credit card, they paid that one credit card charge from the new account. All costs were shown in this account. These couples knew exactly how much they were spending on their divorce and were able to ratchet the costs down when desired.

I have worked on about 100 collaborative law divorces. If you would like my advice on which collaborative law attorneys to interview, feel free to contact me at stewart@texasdivorcecpa.com.

Four Ways to Keep Costs Down in Your Collaborative Law Divorce

July 1, 2013 by Tracy Leave a Comment

Even divorcing couples with wealth don’t want to waste it on an inefficient divorce. This is why the smarter Bryan/College Station couples that are talking about divorce are choosing collaborative law divorce. The collaborative law process offers couples privacy, control and methods to keep the total cost down.

The first step in saving money during a collaborative law divorce is to hire professionals trained by the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas. The Institute teaches how to be efficient from start to finish. I have been on cases with attorneys who had not been trained by the Institute. The result was a slow, mishandled and expensive experience for the couple. Be very careful to hire a collaboratively trained attorney. Ask about the training when you interview lawyers.

The second step is to pay attention in meetings and do what you have committed to doing. You will not be asked to do anything you cannot do. The collaborative case will go at the pace to which you agree. If you have a work deadline or family event, the case will slow down while you take care of these. But once you have committed to providing information for the case and a meeting has been scheduled to review that information, if you procrastinate and don’t finish your homework on time, the cost goes up a bit. When meetings have to be rescheduled, it costs money to check calendars, discuss alternative dates and process emails that communicate the rescheduling options and agreements.

The third step is to make your divorce a priority. If you can do this, the process will go faster and more efficiently. Ask to see the meeting agenda a few days ahead. Show up for all the meetings on time and prepared. Provide information when you say you will – try not to be late. Follow up to be sure your information was received.

In my experience, collaborative law divorce is usually significantly quicker and less expensive than traditional litigated divorce. You can reap even more savings when you follow these three steps during your collaborative law divorce.

I have worked on about 100 collaborative law divorces. If you would like my advice on which attorneys to interview, feel free to contact me at stewart@texasdivorcecpa.com.

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

canstockphoto2553614nest egg

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.

Get a Jump on Your Divorce

June 10, 2013 by Tracy Leave a Comment

Looking at a divorce? Get a jump on your case. Save legal fees. Get to settlement sooner. Stop the pain faster.

Make your first step learning about your property settlement options.

Litigation divorce cases in Brazos County move at glacial speed. If you want to end your pain sooner, get a handle on your settlement options before you file and before you seek an attorney. The first thing to do is to meet with a CPA experienced in divorce settlements.

Why shouldn’t you consult with your tax CPA or your investment advisor? Sure, these experts are talented in their own niches. But they don’t have specialized knowledge and experience of working with divorce attorneys through to a wide variety of divorce property settlements. You need a specialist to identify the long-term financial implications from your decisions that will affect your happiness for the long haul. You need a specialist to get you up to speed quickly.

The divorce CPA will walk you through the minefield, showing you where to step and when to jump aside. He or she will explain the pros and cons of your various settlement options. For example, are you thinking of owning the house together with your ex after the divorce? There are dozens of details that can go wrong. There are income tax implications to avoid or take advantage of. If you don’t address all those issues, they can pop up later to sideline your long-term and short-term financial goals.

How will this save you money? When you understand your financial options before your attorney does, you are way ahead in the process. You are closer to ending your pain. You will save time and money when you can interview attorneys with the summary and details of your various settlement options in your hand.

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 situation.

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.