MY LIL RED DRESS

Regardless of the type of divorce process you choose to use, it is important to identify your marital estate. The marital estate is defined by the South Carolina Equitable Apportionment Statute and generally comprises all assets and debts acquired by either party during the marriage, regardless of title. As you can guess, there are numerous exceptions to this rule, so discuss this issue carefully with your attorney. For starters, however, you should begin to gather the following information, regardless of how it was obtained or who obtained it, as long as it was obtained during the marriage. Gather information on an asset used during the marriage, regardless of when it was obtained.

An example of an “asset” would be your residence, a car, a boat, a valuable piece of artwork, a retirement account, or an investment account. An asset is anything that is worth money! Don’t worry about loans on the assets (such as your mortgage or a car loan), because you will be listing all of these debts separately. The result will be your “net” marital estate.

Here is a brief checklist to help guide you with this process. It is by no means a comprehensive list, so anticipate that your attorney will need more information, but it is a good starting place.

Income/ Assets:

• Income tax returns for the previous five years

• Retirement account statements; one from the date of marriage, one current.

• Estimated valuation of all real estate acquired during the marriage

• Estimated value of the marital residence, if owned

• Statements from current investment accounts

• Statements from college savings accounts for minor children

• Estimated (Blue Book) value of all automobiles

• Itemization of all valuable artwork, jewelry, etc. with estimate of values

• Copies of all trusts

• Copies of all whole life insurance policies or annuities

• Recent statements from whole life and annuity policies

• Copies of all corporate papers; Sub S Corp’s, LLC’s etc.

Debts

• Current credit card statements

• Current mortgage balances (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc….)

• Automobile loans

• Promissory notes

• Student loans

• Secured loans

• Other debts and obligations (unsecured)

In complicated cases, a financial professional is helpful to assist in establishing the value of the marital estate. In the more straightforward cases, you and your lawyer can establish the values using and Excell or Numbers spreadsheet, or just a pencil and paper!

The bottom line is that you want to identify everything that was obtained during the marriage, or used as marital property during the marriage regardless of how it was obtained.

HOT TIP: You will also want to have this information very well organized for your attorney or financial professional. You pay these people by the hour, so the less time they need to spend organizing your financial matters, the less money you will pay for this service!

Originally posted 2009-01-12 14:07:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Divorce Support Groups

If you are in the process of going through a divorce, I can not stress the importance of a support group enough. There is research that shows that going through a divorce is extremely similar to dealing with the death of a loved one. In my experience, whether or not you are the one who initiated the divorce, you’ll go through a wide range of emotions.

When I went through my divorce, I really did not want to get involved in any kind of divorce support groups. I’m (mostly) a private person and I don’t like to talk to strangers about my personal business. I also thought that needing to talk to others would show weakness…and if there is one thing I’m not, it’s weak!

Once I got over myself, I realized that I needed to at least try it. In my case, I was glad that my marriage was over because it wasn’t healthy for anyone. But I still had a lot of feelings that I really didn’t know what to do with. I felt bad for hurting my ex-husband, I felt bad that I had brought children into the world and was ending up raising them in a broken home, and I felt bad because I knew my parents weren’t happy about my divorce (can you say conservative?)

Divorce support groups provide a safe place for you to talk about your thoughts and feelings with other people who are going through the same thing as you are. The best news is that whatever your circumstance, you can find a group that fits your needs. There are church groups, womens groups, mens groups, groups for those who have been victims of infidelity, etc. Look for the one that fits you and get involved!

If you are completely opposed to the idea of divorce support groups, or you can’t find one in your area that meets your needs, at the very least, consider joining an online support group. It’s not the same as meeting with people face-to-face, but for some people that’s preferable. Joining a group of like-minded people on the internet will allow you to have people to talk to when you are having a hard day and chances are you’ll meet people who are at all stages of the divorce process, so you can get valuable advice from someone who may have been exactly where you are just a few months ago.

The pain of divorce eventually lessens and after being through one myself, I can say that I feel stronger, healthier, and happier than I ever did before. Yes, it took a lot of time. Yes, there were some days that I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a train. No, it wasn’t the best period of my life. I’m sure it’s not the best time of your life either – find a divorce support group to help you get past it!

If you’re divorced and found assistance through the use of divorce support groups, share your story here. You never know who you might help!

Originally posted 2009-02-03 12:37:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter