Scott D. Martin is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and a Certified Financial Planner and president of DivorceDirection, LLC in the Orlando, Florida area who is an expert in helping people avoid the financial pitfalls of divorce with over 25 years of experience in the financial planning arena. Click on www.divorcedirection.com -- To learn how you may direct your finances before, during and after divorce to protect your lifestyle now! Email Scott with your questions at: scottmartin@divorcedirection.com or call 407-448-5997. "I've been there (divorced)."
Once a marriage has broken down and a decision is made by one or both parties to divorce, the impact can be devastating. Devastating not only to the individuals involved, but also to the children, family, friends, and employers of the divorcing couple. Divorce not only has a traumatic emotional impact but a financial impact as well.
Because of the financial complexity of many divorces, more and more financial professionals are being asked to play an active role helping individuals and lawyers sort through the financial issues related to divorce. Lawyers are also looking for new ways to help their clients obtain an equitable financial settlement.
Most financial planners and accountants excel in their chosen field, but they have little or no training specifically related to the financial issues of divorce. When a client asks them for assistance, many financial planners and accountants are unable to provide the information the client needs – or even worse, they are unaware that they do not have the required knowledge and end up finding out what they should have known only after the divorce has been finalized.
A Certified Divorce Financial Analyst™ (CDFA™) is someone who comes from financial planning, accounting, or legal background and goes through an intensive training program to become skilled at analyzing and providing expertise on the financial issues of divorce. Our role is to make sure clients and their lawyers fully understand how the financial decisions they make today will impact their financial future – analyze a settlement proposal before the client signs as agreement that he/she may later regret. Some common mistakes include:
- Negotiating to keep the home when the client can’t afford it
- Not understanding the capital gain taxes upon the sale of the marital home, or how the sale can impact each party
- Not looking at the long-term impact of a settlement
- Thinking that retirement assets have the same value as an equal dollar amount of non-retirement assets.
- Failing to understand the tax implications of spousal versus child support
- Not taking into account the effect of deferred taxes when dividing the assets
- Not understanding how to divide debt.
Unfortunately, divorce is a fact of life in today’s society. A CDFA™ can play a vital role in helping make sure these divorces do not end in financial disaster – preserving the financial future of clients and their families.
A CDFA™ can help their clients to understand:
- The difference between personal and marital property
- How property is valued and divided
- Retirement and pensions
- Spousal and child support
- Whether the client can afford to keep the house
- Tax problems and potential solutions
- Which settlement to choose.
To find out more about how a CDFA™ can help their clients on the road towards their financial future, please contact Scott Martin.
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