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Front cover of Divorce and Your Finances: What Actually Happens, a plain-English guide by Nathan Cross
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Divorce and Your Finances: What Actually Happens

Assets, debts, support, and the paperwork

Divorce is an emotional event with an accounting problem attached. This guide covers how property actually gets divided, what happens to joint debt and credit cards, how support numbers are calculated, what a QDRO is and why your retirement account needs one, and the financial documents to gather before your first meeting with anyone who bills by the hour.

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Inside the guide

Table of contents

  1. 01A Note Before You Begin
  2. Part One: Understanding What You Are Facing
  3. 02Chapter One: How Divorce Actually Works — The Process from Start to Finish
  4. 03Chapter Two: The Types of Divorce and Which One Fits Your Situation
  5. 04Chapter Three: The Financial Documents You Need to Gather Right Now
  6. Part Two: Dividing What You Have
  7. 05Chapter Four: Marital Property vs. Separate Property — Drawing the Line
  8. 06Chapter Five: The House — Keep It, Sell It, or Buy Out Your Spouse
  9. 07Chapter Six: Retirement Accounts and the QDRO
  10. 08Chapter Seven: Debts, Taxes, and Hidden Financial Exposure
  11. Part Three: Support, Children, and Negotiation
  12. 09Chapter Eight: Spousal Support — How It Works and How It Is Calculated
  13. 10Chapter Nine: Child Support — The Formula, the Deviations, and What Courts Actually Do
  14. 11Chapter Ten: Negotiating Your Settlement — Strategy, Not Emotion
  15. 12Chapter Eleven: Working with Your Attorney — Getting the Most for the Least
  16. Part Four: Rebuilding After
  17. 13Chapter Twelve: Your Financial Life After Divorce — The First Year Playbook
  18. 14A Final Word
  19. 15Appendix: Forms and Worksheets
  20. 16Form 1: Marital Asset and Debt Inventory
  21. 17Form 2: Monthly Budget Worksheet — During Divorce
  22. 18Form 3: Document Checklist — What to Gather Before Seeing an Attorney
  23. 19Form 4: Property Division Worksheet
  24. 20Form 5: Spousal Support Negotiation Tracker
  25. 21Form 6: Post-Divorce Financial Checklist
  26. 22Form 7: Post-Divorce Account and Beneficiary Update Tracker

Sample translation

Divorce and Your Finances: What Actually Happensbefore / after
As written

Each party shall be awarded, as their sole and separate property, free and clear of any claim of the other party, those assets set forth in Exhibit A annexed hereto and incorporated herein by reference.

In plain English

Whatever is on the attached list is yours to keep, and the other person cannot come back for it later.

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