Q. There are many things that people need to understand when considering a divorce. What do you think are the most important things to know when considering a divorce? What would be the first topic of discussion?
A. You know, that’s a good question, and I think information, personal information, is key. Five important things for me, as a lawyer, when meeting with a new client, is knowing that information and it is helpful when a client has all that information. So first of all I would say know where the money is. And what I mean by that is, as a married couple, know where your bank accounts are. What banking institutions do you use, your account numbers would be helpful, know what kind of balances you have there. What kinds of investments, stocks, mutual funds, retirement accounts, things of that nature. Know who the names are on them. There are both names on them, who is the beneficiary. It is important to know where your liquid assets are.
The second thing I would say is, what I think goes hand in hand with that, is knowing where your debt is. Know what you owe on things. Know what you owe for your house, who is the mortgagee, know what you owe for your cars, know what you owe on credit cards; what kind of credit cards you have, what are the balances and account numbers, again, it is very useful. And also an important question is who is responsible for that account. Are they both in that debt? Is it in your name, is it only in your spouse’s name? Things like that will be helpful in distributing that in the divorce process.
Another important thing to know (the third topic) is to know where your assets are: cars, boats, vacation properties, safes, any problem that maybe one of the spouses takes care of that. The other may not know as much information about it. It’s good to know where those things are so you’re not left in the dark when it comes to signing on the dotted line.
Number four, I’d say know where those important documents are. Are they in a safe deposit box, are they on file, are they in your spouse’s office? If you can get copies of them, it will be very helpful. It’s not crucial, but you want to know where those important documents are. Life insurance policies, stock certificates, things like that, if applicable.
Finally, I would say that you know what you personally need to live. This is crucial if you are the woman in the situation, perhaps you are a housewife. This will all be very new and perhaps scary for you. Maybe you handle finances, maybe you don’t. Finances will probably change, well, they undoubtedly will change, once divorce comes, but you are going to need to know how much you need per month, as a total of your rent, your utilities, your food, your gas, your insurance, telephone. Things like this that you may not have thought about in the past, which will become very important as you move forward.