Make an inventory of your financial situation. This will help you to prepare in two ways:
- It will provide you with preliminary information for an eventual division of the property.
- It will help you to plan how the debts incurred in the marriage are to be paid off. (Although the best way of dealing with joint debt, such as credit card debt, is to get it all paid off before the divorce. Since this strategy is often impossible, compiling a list of your debts will help you to come to some agreement as to how they will be paid off.)
To take stock of your situation, here are the steps you might follow:
- Inventory:
The current balance in all bank accounts;
The value of any brokerage accounts;
The value of investments, including any IRAs;
Your residence(s);
Your autos; and
Your valuable antiques, jewelry, luxury items, collections, and furnishings.
- Make sure you have copies of the past two or three years’ tax returns. These will come in handy later.
- Make sure you know the exact amounts of salary and other income earned by both yourself and your spouse.
- Find the papers relating to insurance—life, health, auto, and homeowner’s—and pension or other retirement benefits.
- List all debts you both owe, separately or jointly. Include auto loans, mortgage, credit card debt, and any other liabilities.
If you are a spouse who has not worked outside the home lately, be sure to open a separate bank account in your own name and apply for a credit card in your own name. These measures will help you to establish credit after the divorce.
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