People get divorced everyday. Getting a financially smart divorce… not so much. Clients need to think about not only what they need today but, tomorrow. Inflation makes dollars worth less in the future. You should not accept an offer without considering inflation, the fact that as kids grow, their clothes get more expensive and the HVAC unit you’ll need to replace next year. Yes, divorce is a miserable experience and most people just want to get it over with and stop the pain… However, you’ll live with the effects of the settlement for the rest of your life. Take the … Continue reading
Welcome to my blog. It allows me to share my thoughts on a variety of financial issues related to divorce. Please call our office at 615-376-8204 if you have a specific question or would like to schedule a complimentary consultation.
Sandy Arons
Founder & President
Founder & President
CUSTOMIZE YOUR DIVORCE SETTLEMENT TO MEET THE NEEDS OF YOUR FAMILY
If couples hope to achieve a fair divorce settlement that is acceptable to both spouses, thinking outside the box is essential. I’ve never had the exact same settlement for any of my Nashville clients because each family is unique and so are the solutions to their problems. A settlement that I am currently crafting with a couple is a good example. They own a home. The husband has moved out and the wife and child are living in the marital home. He cannot afford to buy out the wife’s share of the equity in the house. She can’t afford to … Continue reading
ESTATE PLANNING ISSUES AND DIVORCE
If you are divorcing, after the divorce is over, you will have some estate planning details that should be addressed sooner than later. Most people realize that they will need to revise their will. However, you will also need to revise the beneficiaries on your bank/investment accounts, retirement accounts and life insurance. Forget to do this and your ex-spouse could receive funds down the road that you intended to go to your children or potential new spouse. Unfortunately, I see this too often when 20 years after a divorce the first spouse receives the benefits of a life insurance policy … Continue reading
COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE IN NASHVILLE, TN
A collaborative practice divorce has been getting some good publicity recently in Nashville, TN. Did you see the article in the Tennessean regarding the collaborative divorce of Bill Frist? This type of divorce has many advantages over a typical litigated divorce primarily because a collaborative divorce focuses on crafting settlements that solve problems. What a refreshing concept; divorce attorneys finding solutions to clients problems, helping the family’s maintain their dignity and relationships post-divorce. It has been said that divorce does to families what hand grenades does to interior design… I am on the front lines of divorce every day and … Continue reading
WHY SEPARATE CREDIT CARDS?
If you are divorcing in Nashville, TN and beyond, you need to understand if you are the primary card holder or just the authorized user for any credit cards you are currently using. You can obtain this information by calling the credit card company directly (their phone number is on the back of the credit card) or from your credit report. You can obtain a free credit report once a year by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com. Why is this information important? Because if you and your ex-spouse remain as authorizer users for the credit card, you will be liable for any charges … Continue reading
BASIC INFORMATION REGARDING A QUIT CLAIM DEED
Many divorces involve selling the marital residence or transfer of it from one spouse to the other. In order to remove a spouse from a property deed post divorce, a quit claim deed must be filed. Your spouse must agree to the transfer. You cannot remove them from the property deed without their consent. The quit claim deed should be mentioned in your Marital Dissolution Agreement. Your divorce attorney can draft the quit claim deed. Make sure that your attorney files this quit claim deed at the courthouse to make it official.
AVOID DIVORCE INSURANCE MISTAKES
Warning: Will Your Insurance Protection Survive Your Separation and Divorce? Divorce is traumatic enough without the financial complications of an uncovered insurance loss. Attorneys and judges are quick to consider life and health insurance in divorce cases. But frequently other forms of personal insurance do not get much attention. During a divorce judges frequently tell the parties in a divorce not to make any changes to their insurance policies. What the judges are trying to do is stop malicious tampering with insurance policies by the warring spouses. However, legal professionals sometimes overlook common but crucial property and casualty insurance issues. … Continue reading
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION AND DIVORCE
Executive compensation poses unique challenges during divorce. Does your spouse have stock options? If so , what was the issuing price? Can those options be assigned to you? Are you sure? Common stock and restricted stock can be tied to performance and therefore many times is not fully vested at the time of divorce. What about a pension? Do you know the current value and understand the restrictions placed by the benefits administrator? If you are not well versed in executive compensation, you can walk away from the divorce leaving quite a bit of money on the table and think … Continue reading
ALIMONY ISSUES
This 7 letter word paralyses men with fear. How much will I have to pay? For how long? It also paralyses women. Can I receive it? How much can I receive? How long will it last? I understand why this is such an emotional issue. However, emotions aside, it really comes down to numbers. Attorneys tell me that TN divorce laws discuss 16 factors that are considered for alimony. However, need and ability to pay are the 2 factors that get the most attention. As the wife and husband, your job is to prove what you need and what you … Continue reading
Minimize Unnecessary Expenses During Divorce
Regardless of how much divorcing spouses may dislike each other, they often equally dislike spending money on a divorce battle and draining their hard earned savings and retirement funds on unnecessary legal fees. Consistently, I strive to avoid letting uncertainty whip my Nashville, TN clients into an emotional tizzy. The more frenzied their emotions, the longer the proceedings and the more costly the divorce. Frequently, it is the emotions in divorce that cloud people’s thinking and result in tens of thousands of dollars spent unnecessarily. As a divorce financial planner and mediator, I am aware of the emotional issues my … Continue reading