June 1

Financial Advice during a Divorce

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I’m sure that you’ve heard the statistic that half of the marriages in the United States today end in divorce. If you pop that statistic into Google, you’ll find millions of articles, websites, and talking-heads with something to say on that subject.

You could spend the rest of your life looking through them all, and you wouldn’t know much more about marriage or divorce than when you started, in all likelihood. I think it’s safe to say that access to information is not something that many of us suffer from in 2018. What happens, then, if you have a divorce question? Where can you get honest advice from someone with experience in that area of life?

The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, would like this blog to offer you an opportunity to learn a little about family law before actually engaging in a case.

Whether or not you would choose our office to represent you in your case, we like to think that we have a perspective that many others don’t consider our experience handling various family law cases in Texas courts. As a result, if you can learn something from one of our blog posts that helps your family, then that justifies our effort in writing these posts in the first place.

Some people stay in a lousy marriage for financial reasons. Sound familiar?

If I were to describe a situation to you that involved a woman who was the primary breadwinner for a family who stayed in a bad marriage because she was worried about having to pay spousal support or child support after the divorce, I would this hit close to home for you?

What about a situation where one spouse was out of the job market for years because they stayed at home to care for children- only now to need to return to work after a divorce? Could this situation describe you?

The persons above in the prior paragraph could probably describe a relatively high number of persons currently putting off a divorce because of the financial concerns of proceeding towards dissolving a marriage. Whether those concerns are justified or not is a different story, but in general, money and money fights are perhaps the most common reason why I have seen families in southeast Texas get divorced.

It is essential for you to recognize that your life can be better after a divorce than before one- even if there is more risk involved from a financial perspective. An experienced family law attorney can help you understand divorce and minimize your financial exposure once one is complete.

Today’s blog topic will center around this subject. Put, if your goal is to file for divorce from your spouse and then to become divorced, then today’s blog will cover some pieces of financial advice that are critical to that effort.

Make a budget for yourself.

A budget should be job number one for you as you begin to transition yourself from a two-person household into a single-person family. It can seem that during a divorce that, your expenses rise and rise with no end in sight. Hiring an attorney is just the most common and perhaps most costly of those expenses. Now is a great time to sit down and figure out what your monthly budget looks like before you file for divorce.

Ask yourself the questions:

What does your typical month look like?
What will rent be for you after the divorce?
Food, utilities, car payments/costs, child-raising costs, etc.
What essentials in your life need to be paid monthly, no matter what?

Are there expenses that you/you and your spouse currently incur that can be reduced or cut out altogether after your divorce? If so, this is a no-brainer means to live leaner and meaner as a single adult.

Could your car be sold once the divorce is complete to eliminate a monthly payment and allow you to keep more money to help raise the children or save for retirement? Are you staying the home a realistic goal considering your monthly income and ability to qualify for a refinance of the mortgage? Ask yourself these questions about looking into the budget you’ve created for yourself.

Focus on the “in-come,” not just the “out-go.”

So frequently, we focus on defensive measures when it comes to saving money, but I would begin to think about it in terms of what is available on the other side of the ledger. What is your income currently?

What do you need to do to start a career and begin life as a single adult if you’re not working? The money you take in can help you pay off debt, save during your divorce, and set you and your children up for success once the divorce has concluded.

Do you need to tidy up your resume that has a “saved as” date of 2015 on your home computer?

Make sure you’ve reviewed and updated your resume and maybe even pay to have a professional career counselor look at it and make an evaluation. Employers change their attitudes towards what needs to appear on these documents every so often, and it’s possible your most recent version is not current.

Questions on family and finances? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC

If you are contemplating divorce, we would like you to know that the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, have great success for clients across southeast Texas. Please contact our office today to schedule a free-of-charge consultation with one of our licensed family law attorneys. Learning about divorce from attorneys who specialize in this area of the law can be invaluable from a peace of mind perspective.

We thank you all for the opportunity to share this information with you and hope you return to our blog in the future for additional tips and tricks on family law, divorce, and child custody cases.

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Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC | Houston, Texas Divorce Lawyers

The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, routinely handles matters that affect children and families. If you have questions regarding divorce, it’s essential to speak with one of our Houston , TX, Divorce Lawyers right away to protect your rights.

Our d ivorce lawyers in Houston, TX, are skilled at listening to your goals during this trying process and developing a strategy to meet those goals. Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC by calling (281) 810-9760 or submit your contact information in our online form. The Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC, handles Divorce cases in Houston, Texas, Cypress, Klein, Humble, Kingwood, Tomball, The Woodlands, Houston, the FM 1960 area, or surrounding areas, including Harris County, Montgomery County, Liberty County, Chambers County, Galveston County, Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, and Waller County.

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