Many divorces end with the divorcing couple not having money left over to cover all of their living expenses. Divorce is painful enough without adding to the stress by trying to budget on a tight budget. This is particularly true when the spouse who is receiving alimony or spousal support does not have the same funds as the other spouse in terms of net income. If you are in this situation and need some divorce help, there are resources available for you to utilize.
Financial experts offer many tips and suggestions for how to be thrifty after divorce. The first step you must take is to get all of your financial information in order. You need to know the value of every penny you have in your bank accounts, including your 401(k) contributions and any outstanding loans such as auto loans, credit cards or mortgages. If you have children, you must make sure they are insured. All debts should be included on your divorce petition.
Once you have everything in order, you and your ex-spouse should talk about how to divide the remaining finances. It’s best to be honest and lump all funds for the divorce into one sum that both of you will agree upon. This is so the divorce process goes much smoother because there is only one bill to worry about instead of several. It is also easier to come up with an amount that can be divided into easily affordable payments that the two of you will both be able to work together to settle.
One way to divide up the finances is to give each party a percentage of the excess money. If the ex-wife earns more than the Husband, she may request that he pay half of her share. On the other hand, the former husband may agree to give up half of the extra money he makes. This percentage figure can be worked out between the two individuals to come up with a fair division of the divorce settlement funds.
The second step on how to finance after divorce is to figure out who will foot the bills. The majority rule is usually that the Husband’s former wife takes care of the kids while he takes care of the finances. However, this does not mean that the wives are expected to stay away from their job. They should simply inform the Husband about any additional job or business they are taking care of to take aways from their former spouse. There may also be additional rules set forth in the divorce decree that the Wife and Husband must follow regarding where they can get money for living while the litigation is going on.
One important piece of advice is for both individuals to establish a joint bank account to keep separate accounts for their children’s and joint tax and credit card accounts. This allows the spender to take aways from both sources. The same goes for the former husband. He should deposit the separate funds into his new joint bank account so as to avoid the deduction of income tax from the wife’s work.