SECOND SATURDAY
PRESENTATION OUTLINES
FINANCIAL ISSUES
1. Getting started
 Preparing for divorce – gather documents, pay down debt, make repairs to
property you want to keep, buy wardrobe you’ll need for your career,
inventory safe deposit boxes, copy important records
 Shoring up financial resources – how to get the funds you’ll need to go
through divorce, getting control of your share of joint bank accounts, getting
credit cards in your own name
2. Navigating the divorce
 Separating emotions and economics – money as power, revenge, reward,
punishment
 Taking an active role – learn as much as you can about your financial
situation
 Take control - don’t spend money looking for every dime, but don’t just take
whatever is offered – there is a middle ground you can find
3. Determining support
 Support is based on your relative incomes – how to determine income from a
business, how a spouse’s ability to earn factors into the equations
 Child support isn’t taxable if you receive it, alimony is; child support isn’t taxdeductible if you pay it, alimony is
 Who should claim the children on their tax return?
 Protecting support with life insurance in case he dies
3. Dealing with the family home
 Transfer of title between you isn’t taxable, but the tax basis (what you paid
for it plus improvements) may cause you to pay taxes when you sell it if gain
is greater than $250,000
 Deferred sale of home – each spouse can claim $250,000 exclusion of gain on
sale of home if the resident spouse is granted exclusive use in a legal
document.
 Can you really afford to keep the home? What must you sacrifice, such as
savings, retirement accounts, and is it worth it?
Second Saturday workshops are presented by agreement with the Women’s Institute for
Financial Education (WIFE.org), the oldest and most trusted non-profit devoted to female financial
literacy.
4. Retirement plans
 How Social Security works for divorced spouses
 Military benefits – how they are divided, when you can get direct payment,
medical and commissary privileges, Survivor Benefit Program insurance
 How retirement plans are divided, and when a Qualified Domestic Relations
Order is needed
 How to transfer your share of retirement accounts to your name
5. Other assets and debts
 Property you receive in divorce isn’t taxable to you, including cash payments
in exchange for your right in real estate or business
 Valuing a business, and getting your share of income from a business
 Dividing your stuff – furniture, jewelry (when it’s a gift and when it’s marital
property), vehicles, collections
 Miscellaneous property – frequent flyer points, accrued vacation and sick pay
 Separate property issues
 Reimbursement issues
 How to deal with joint credit cards
 Put an indemnification clause in your divorce agreement to deal with income
tax issues that may arise related to the period of the marriage
 Health insurance issues – COBRA coverage, your own coverage, coverage for
the children
6. Deciding what is best for you
 The pros and cons of trading retirement plan assets for the home
 Creating a budget – your former lifestyle vs. your current reality – what can
you afford now, what will you give up?
 Considering your future needs as well as your current needs as you negotiate
a settlement
 Career issues – who will you be now, and what do you want for your future?
7. Moving on after divorce
 Getting your financial life in order once the divorce papers are signed and
filed
 Creating new goals and objectives
 Estate planning - The importance of getting good professional advice
Second Saturday workshops are presented by agreement with the Women’s Institute for
Financial Education (WIFE.org), the oldest and most trusted non-profit devoted to female financial
literacy.