Divorce Budget: Keeping Your Finances Under Control
The simple act of separating your life with your spouse into two separate lives is going to be very expensive. You have to buy or rent a new home, start paying all your expenses on your own, buy new furniture and other home goods, and possibly start paying for child care. But actually paying for your divorce is also quite expensive. A good divorce attorney near Glendale does not come cheap, and all those filings, court appearances, and investigations cost money.
You need to save as much money as you can to start your new life alone. Here are a few things you can do to keep your divorce budget under control so that you have more to finance your fresh start:
Talk to Your Spouse
The more you can agree on with your spouse without involving a divorce lawyer, the more you will both save in the process. Of course, the divorce process has probably made you both very angry and resentful, and it may be difficult for you to agree on anything, let alone have a conversation that doesn’t devolve into yelling and name-calling. However, you should at least give it a try.
If you can only agree on one thing by talking to your spouse, that could be a few hours you don’t have to pay your attorney, which can save you several hundred dollars. Imagine how much you can save if you can agree to more.
Educate Yourself
Most attorneys charge by the hour. That means that every time you need to email or call your Phoenix divorce attorney to share information or ask a question, you are going to be charged. It may only take five minutes for your attorney to answer that question, but you will be charged for those five minutes.
You can save yourself a lot of money by educating yourself about simple issues on your own. Stick to simple things like what the local court schedule is or what a state law is concerning a particular asset. But don’t turn to Google for the final answer on issues that will have a big impact on you. You may get background info and then confirm it with your attorney. Just remember to let the expert guide you and not the internet.
Get Organized
Your attorney is going to request a lot of information from you, particularly about your finances and your assets, such as real estate. You will have to gather and submit a lot of paperwork. If that paperwork is disorganized or the information is not clear, your divorce lawyer will have to spend time sorting through it, which will cost you more money.
You can save money by organizing your documents and information before you submit them to your divorce attorney. Your lawyer should be able to get the information needed quickly and easily.
Use Cheaper Professionals Where Possible
While you are talking with your divorce attorney about splitting your retirement account, you may have questions about how that will affect your taxes or about how much you will need to start putting away to replenish it. Asking these questions will take time, and you will pay a lot for that time.
Save yourself a lot of money and get the same information by talking to the appropriate professionals. A financial advisor is usually going to cost a lot less than a divorce lawyer. Ask those questions with the professional who won’t charge as much b the hour.
Choose Your Battles
You may love that fancy mask you bought on your vacation in Venice, but your spouse may decide to fight you over it just out of spite. You can end up spending hundreds or thousands of dollars in attorney and court fees to reach resolution over that mask, which may have cost you less than $100. Is that really worth it to you?
You need to choose your battles so that you fight over only the things that are really worth it to you, either because of their financial value or their sentimental value. Make sure you’re running a cost-benefit analysis to know what battles are worth fighting (financially, at least).
Prepare to Compromise
You aren’t going to get everything you want in your Arizona divorce settlement. That may be a hard pill to swallow, but the sooner you accept it, the easier the process will be. You need to prepare to compromise on some things. When you are ready to give up some things, you will be better positioned to get the things you really want. Plus, you’ll save a lot of money in legal fees since your case won’t drag on and you won’t pay your lawyer more.
See a Therapist
Divorce is an emotional process, and you are likely to make a lot of decisions with your emotions, rather than with your logic. You decide to fight your spouse over the crystal vase you got for your wedding just because you don’t want it to end up in a house with his new girlfriend. Or you decide to fight over who gets the season tickets because you know how much your spouse loves the team – even if you don’t even like the sport.
Having those fights is only going to cost you more money. By going to a therapist, you can work through some of the feelings you are experiencing about your divorce and your spouse so that you are better able to make decisions rationally. You’ll save money, and you’ll feel a lot better.
Divorce isn’t going to be cheap, but that doesn’t mean you have to sit back and watch the costs run wild. You can bring costs under control by making different choices. Follow these tips to save money that you can use to rebuild your life after the divorce.
If you are getting a divorce in the Phoenix area, the divorce attorneys at My AZ Lawyers can help you. Your divorce attorney will work out a strategy with you at the beginning of your case to help you get the best settlement. Our goal is to resolve your case as quickly as possible so that you can get resolution and save money. Contact us in Phoenix today to speak with a divorce lawyer about your options.
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