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Negotiating a Good Divorce Settlement

by: Nathan Dawson

Divorce can get complicated with all its legal and financial details and disagreements. It�s no wonder that you are seeking divorce help and divorce support. The most important piece of information to learn from the get-go about how to get a divorce is that the outcome depends on you. Your willingness to negotiate and seek mediation can actually make it a low cost divorce. It might even turn out to be an easy divorce if you stay flexible, yet firm about your rights.

Going through a trial is seldom a good idea, particularly with regard to women and divorce. Financially, men usually have the upper hand since they are traditionally the bread-winners and, as such, they usually get paid more. That gives them more buying power to hire the better lawyer; if the case goes to trial, a wife in this sort of situation usually finds herself headed toward financial ruin. For this reason, life after a divorce trial can be even harder than it was before.

Here is a little divorce advice that will make coping with divorce less difficult: spare yourself and your children the headache�mediate.

Mediation gives both parties the power to negotiate alimony, child support, custody and an equitable division of assets and liabilities. In this way, you can use any divorce information you acquire to increase your negotiating power.

When trying to negotiate a good divorce settlement, keep the following in mind:

When you are not satisfied with any of your spouse�s terms, prepare a logical rebuttal, rather than get defensive and emotional. By all means, speak up!
Be willing to try and consider your soon-to-be-estranged spouse�s wellbeing.
If things get ugly, remember that a change in your approach (yes, it�s hard) can turn things around 180 degrees.
Just do your best to avoid having the case go to trial. The benefits of mediating your own agreement include keeping your marital problems confidential, sparing yourself of open court proceedings and the related costs, speeding up the process and not to mention helping to make it all easier on the kids.

About the author:
Nathan Dawson writes for a great online source for finance information.

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Seven Sets of Documents You Need For Your Divorce
by: Scott Morgan

This article is designed to give someone who is considering or planning for the possibility of divorce an idea of what documents are needed. Even if you believe your case is ultimately agreed to and settled without a trial, you will be in a much better position if you already have the relevant documents in your possession. Better safe than sorry.

You should locate the relevant documents, make copies, and keep them somewhere secure, like your office or with a friend. You will then have access when it is needed.

Here are the most important seven categories of documents you should focus on.

1. Income Documents

Your spouse's income is relevant to a number of issues in a divorce case. At a minimum, get your spouse's last paycheck statement and your most recent tax return. Ideally, you would have access to all tax returns filed during the marriage, along with all supporting documents and schedules.

2. Bank Records

The monthly bank statements are very important and can lead you to other documents (cancelled checks, deposit slips, registers, etc.) that you also may need to obtain. Get at least the most recent statement for each account that is either held in your name, your spouse's name, or jointly. If possible, get copies of all statements going back to the date of marriage. In most cases this volume of records is not required, but in some cases these records can be very helpful and even necessary to analyze the case.

3. Retirement and Other Investment Records

Often the biggest asset a couple will own will be a 401k or pension account. So you will definitely want the most recent account statement and ideally all statements dating back to the time of marriage. Also, the last statement prior to marriage can be very significant (especially in community property states) to show the pre-marriage balance.

4. Credit Card statements

Again the most recent statements are a necessity, but a lot of important evidence can be garnered from the historical statements. In some cases, the credit card statements will show questionable transactions that can be of real evidentiary value. For example, they might show evidence of gifts or dinners purchased for paramours, questionable hotel rentals, or other dubious purchases.

5. Real estate documents

The most important real estate documents are the Deed of Trust and Warranty Deed for any property you currently own. If you have the entire file from (the giant stack of paper you got after the closing) for each real estate purchase or refinance transaction during the marriage it can be helpful. Additionally, documents evidencing real estate owned by either spouse prior to marriage can be significant, especially in community property states.

6. Mortgage statements & any Other Debts

You should get the most recent statements showing the current payoff balance for any other debts. For those debts that have only a coupon book with no regularly generated statements showing the current balance, you will probably need to contact the creditor by phone for the current payoff information.

7. Relevant emails or other correspondence

Correspondence or emails can be extremely helpful (or damaging, depending on your viewpoint) pieces of evidence in the case. Whether the communication is between spouses or between a spouse and some third-party, the communication is potentially relevant. Two common examples would be where your spouse makes a damaging admission about some issue in the case, or communications with paramours.

Conclusion

Determining which documents you need to obtain for your divorce case can be a very time-consuming and daunting task. Use this list as a starting point and discuss your situation with a quality divorce attorney. This person should be able to advise you specifically on the documents you need to obtain in order to protect your interests.

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