Divorce is fraught with emotional and financial upheaval.
Unfortunately, divorce happens to almost 40% of first-time marriages and more often in second and third marriages. The rate of divorce for the baby boomer population has been increasing as well as the 70+ demographic.
All too often, the non-moneyed spouse is not prepared for divorce. While they may have been the household-CFO and paid the bills and generally kept the household running, they are often disconnected from the source of income, savings, investments, liabilities, etc. So on top of the emotional distress, there is a need to quickly get up to speed on assets, debts and cost of living going forward.
Chapin Hill Advisors works closely with their client as an advocate throughout the divorce process. From helping interview and choose the best attorney, reviewing the right process (mediation, collaborative or litigation) for our client’s specific needs to deciphering the financial needs of their family and figuring out the couple’s net-worth, we help our clients work towards the best possible solution for them.
Our process is unique in that we can help our clients sort through multiple sets of potential outcomes and review the tax effects of selling or receiving different assets. We work through every area of the client’s life in partnership with the other advisors typically including attorneys, mediators, forensic CPA’s, valuation experts, realtors and bankers to provide a holistic solution for our clients.
Our divorce consultant will actually go with our clients to the attorney’s office, take notes and help review the attorney’s advice and create a strategy. We attempt to reduce the emotional issues, treat the process as a negotiation and assist our clients in deciding what issues are most important.
Our internal team creates the expense reports needed for the negotiation, runs future illustrations for spending needs including future college tuition, tutoring, home maintenance costs and more. We add inflation on these expenses and assess the tax effects of any settlement. We work in concert with the chosen attorney to assist our clients in getting the best possible outcome for their situation.