Divorcing

Can you afford to live the life you want after divorce ?

Talking about divorce isn’t easy. But since it can leave your finances in tatters, we’d like to invite you to talk to us if you’re going through the process.

The divorce process is emotionally charged and as your financial planner we bring along objectivity to the situation. We can’t mitigate the emotional impact of divorce but we can help you plan a secure future that will allow you to move on with a sense of security. We prepare a report for both parties so that you can make an informed decision regarding your finances.

Why Involve a Financial Planner ?

Divorce brings with it not only emotional stress but also financial pressure. Throughout the process you may be asking yourself…

• Will my lifestyle change?
• What lifestyle can I afford?
• What financial sacrifice do I need to make?
• Can I stay in my own house? If not, can I afford a
  new one?
• Can I support my kids?
• Will I lose all my hard earned money?
• Will I get a fair share?

As your Financial Planner, we will help you find the answers to these questions. We will help you
visualise the future you want to have after the divorce and help you achieve it.

We can't predict your future but we can give you a clear idea of what it holds. We hope this will give you confidence to move on.

How can we help ?

As part of our financial planning service, we will assess where your finances stand before the divorce. We will then come up with a plan that will ease the financial burden that you will face after. Knowing where both of you stand with your finances can give you a better chance of coming to an agreement and avoid unnecessary stress brought about by financial dispute.

Planning your life after divorce:

When you divorce you’ll lose or gain assets. Your income may change. As your financial planner, we will analyse the effects of these changes to your lifestyle. This exercise will give you a clear idea about your financial situation and prepare you for a life after the divorce.

Losing Assets:

If you have to give up a big chunk of your assets when you divorce, it will have a huge impact on your financial security. Our job is to create a plan to help you recover the dip in your finances.

Gain Assets:

If you’re gaining assets but don’t have the experience of dealing with them, we will help you manage them. We will also help you plan your finances to meet your current circumstances.

Deciding about the martial home

In most cases, the family home is the biggest marital asset. When your marriage breaks down, you have to decide whether one of you keeps the house or sell it and split the proceeds. But if you have a mortgage it can get complicated.

If you decide to keep the house, can you afford the mortgage on your own? On the other hand, if you sell it and divide the proceeds, can you afford to buy a new house? This situation is a mine field. As your financial planner we can help you work out what is the best option for your current financial situation.

Child Maintenance

The thought of paying out maintenance month after month can be stressful. It’s even more so if you don’t know how much is appropriate. Asking the court to decide can cost you a lot of money and will add more stress to your already strained relationship. We can help you establish how much your children will need until they are of age. We will also clearly show you what this will mean to your lifestyle. We hope that this process can help you come to an agreement that is fair to both parties

Pensions

After the family home, pension is the second biggest marital asset. If both of you have pensions, you will have to share them with each other. And you need to consider the best way to do it.

If you’re losing a big slice of your pension we can help you plan what to do to recover the retirement income that you’ve lost. If you’re the recipient we can help you grow it and maximise the benefits of that asset.

There are three ways to share the pension in a divorce settlement. All three have their advantages and disadvantages.

A. Offsetting

In offsetting, you can keep your pension fund and your partner gets assets of equal value such as the house. This is the simplest method of settlement. However, the offset assets are valued at a specific point in time. Therefore, it doesn’t take into account plans for retirement. On the plus side, it offers both of you a clean break.

B. Ear-Marking

With Ear-Marking, both of you have a claim to each other’s pension. When you draw the benefits, both of you are entitled to the pay-out.  However, this has many drawbacks such as:

• It ends when the pension holder dies
• It ends if you remarried
• If you’re not the pension holder, you don’t have any
  control as when to draw the benefits
• The pension is taxed on the pension holder who may pay
  higher tax
• It doesn’t provide a clean break

C. Pension Sharing

Pension sharing is granted by the court. In this option, the court orders for an immediate split of the pension funds. The sharing isn’t necessarily 50/50, unless it’s the only asset you have. You can negotiate the sharing percentage before the order is granted and a financial planner can show you the options available to you.

Once the pension sharing is granted, if you’re not the main pension holder, you can decide to keep your share within the fund or transfer it to a new plan in your name. Again, as your financial planner, we can help
you weigh the benefits and drawbacks of each option.

Your financial security with a real personal touch

Whatever your personal situation rest assured that we will listen to what you wish to achieve. And we will explore all options available to you to secure your financial future.

Call us today and see how we can help.