If you are ending your marriage, it is important to protect yourself in your divorce. According to Karen Covey for the Huffington Post, below are a few tips for making sure you do not get taken advantage of financially:

• Retain a seasoned divorce attorney. Working with a lawyer does not mean that your divorce has to be an ugly battle. It simply means that you are educating yourself on what the law provides and working to obtain a fair result. Having attorneys involved typically assists in keeping things amicable and quicker resolutions to issues that arise between you and your spouse.
• Understand your financial situation. Investigate your finances and gather as much documentation as you can such as tax returns, bank statements, pay stubs, investment records and any other financial information you can find. Once you have gathered your financial records, read them and make sure you understand where you stand.
• Know your debts. Understanding the value of your marital assets is essential, but you must also educate yourself about your debts. Dividing your debts is an important part of obtaining a fair settlement in your divorce. You don’t want to get stuck with debt you didn’t know about! Additionally, make sure you understand how debt works in a divorce. Even if the court orders your ex-spouse to pay a debt, your creditor will still hold you liable on the account unless you negotiate with the lender to be released from the debt.
• Create a budget. Even if you have always been the one in charge of paying the bills, it is important to understand how money works and what type of budget you can live on post-divorce. You must educate yourself on how your divorce will impact your health insurance, investments, real estate and every other part of your life. The more you prepare for your newly single life before you are divorced, the better off you will be.
• Don’t do it alone. In addition to legal counsel, you should also confer with an accountant and/or financial planner for advice on how to protect yourself financially in your divorce. Taxes play a big part in divorces, so make sure you understand the tax consequences of how the marital property is being divided and whether any support payments will have tax implications for you.

We stand ready to help. Contact the knowledgeable attorneys at the Men’s Divorce Law Firm. Our office is located in Orlando, Florida, but we proudly serve husbands and fathers across the State.