For people in Minnesota who decide to divorce, the financial aspects of the end of a marriage can be among the most challenging to resolve. Protecting one’s assets is important in order to secure a positive financial future after divorce. There are a few steps that people can keep in mind in order to take financial precautions during this difficult period.
Opening personal bank accounts is often an important step. While many married couples rely on joint accounts, individual checking and savings accounts give each partner access to the funds they need to handle their immediate next steps. Similarly, it can be important to close joint credit cards and other joint accounts that accumulate debt. During the divorce, all marital debts will need to be divided; closing joint accounts helps prevent additional debt from being accumulated as divorce approaches.
Financial issues are important in divorce whether the couple has extensive debt or a high-asset divorce with valuable investments. During the process, it can be important to track valuable objects; while their value will need to be divided in the divorce settlement, decisions will also need to be made about who keeps specific items. Keeping photographs of valuable items, investment account statements and other key documents helps establish a proper valuation of marital property in order to prepare for division during settlement negotiations.
Each divorcing spouse may also wish to open a post office box as they prepare to end their marriage; this can be a place to direct correspondence with one’s attorneys as well as other individual mail. When going through a divorce, a family law attorney may be able to provide representation and advice on asset division, spousal support, child custody and other key matters.
