divorce financial planner

8 Reasons to Work with a Divorce Informed Financial Planner

How a Divorce Financial Planner Can Help Women and their Attorneys in Arizona 

Many women facing divorce, as well as their attorneys, decide to work with divorce financial advisors. Adding a financial planner’s expertise to the divorce team provides key assistance in preparing a case for litigation or mediation in Arizona cases. 

Divorce threatens financial stability. Working with a qualified professional like a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) helps forge a clear path towards financial prosperity or recovery. 

Benefits of Working with a Divorce Financial Advisor

Working with a divorce financial advisor helps women facing divorce to feel more prepared and supported during the trying divorce process. Partnering with an advisor also leads to substantially better financial outcomes. 

Here are eight reasons to work with a divorce financial planner. 

Divorce-Informed Guidance From Financial Professionals

A financial advisor who is divorce-informed will consider your financial needs with a deep understanding of asset division laws in your state. They’ll be able to anticipate many of the financial realities that a divorced woman faces following the dissolution of her marriage. 

Your advisor will use their divorce-specific finance expertise to help you create a proactive financial plan. 

Certified to Advise Specifically on the Financial Aspects of a Divorce

Divorce is a specialized financial planning category. The state of Arizona requires financial advisors, Certified Public Accountants, CDFAs undergo intensive training and testing to ensure that they’re qualified to provide expert advice to people going through or considering a divorce. 

Provide Expert Witness Testimony in Litigation

A CDFA can serve as a resource for women and their attorneys during divorce proceedings. This includes providing expert witness testimony during a hearing in the State of Arizona. . 

The expert testimony of a divorce financial planner helps to substantiate arguments made before a judge. This support strengthens your legal case, leading to the financial justice that you deserve. 

The State of Arizona allows testimony from expert witnesses that meet the following criteria: 

  • The expert’s relevant knowledge and expertise will help in understanding or determining a fact 
  • The testimony is based on facts and data that are relevant and satisfactory to the case at hand 
  • The testimony is in line with trusted methods and principles 
  • These methods and principles have been sufficiently applied to the context of the case 

An experienced Arizona CDFA can certainly meet these criteria. By reviewing financial information provided by a woman or her legal team, the certified advisor can apply established financial principles and calculations to the facts at hand and help in creating a contextual understanding of the financial impacts of the divorce. This can aid helping to determine factors like alimony, child support payments, and the division of assets. 

Can Assist Attorneys in Putting Together Their Argument

In addition to serving as an expert witness, a divorce financial advisor can also provide a legal team with guidance on financial matters. 

This input helps the team prepare to deliver their argument in a court of law. With the help of a CDFA, attorneys and their clients are better able to construct an argument that’s both legally sound and financially literate. 

As a CPA, CDFA, and Certified Financial Planner in Arizona, I strive to apply principles from each discipline when assisting women and their attorneys in constructing their arguments. This provides a more complete and contextual picture of the financial factors that affect parties facing divorce. This holistic view of the financial considerations can play a major role in securing a more just and fair outcome. 

Can Provide Mediation Coaching

If the two parties in a divorce agree to mediation, a CDFA can provide financial coaching through this process. They can offer recommendations for handling important financial considerations such as child support, alimony, and asset division. 

Provide Multiple Financial Scenarios for Negotiation

Negotiation involves a great deal of back-and-forth discussion. It goes without saying that all parties won’t easily come to agreements on each financial aspect of a divorce. 

A divorce financial advisor helps you to plan for multiple financial scenarios. Through each stage of negotiation, your advisor will have you prepared to adapt to changing circumstances. 

Whenever a preferred option doesn’t work out, you’ll be ready to move towards the next-best alternative. The end result is a divorce agreement that provides you with a fair and secure financial outcome. 

Financial Planning for Post-Divorce Life

After divorce, your financial picture changes. Sometimes, these changes are drastic. 

How do you financially adjust to life as a newly single person—especially if children are involved?

A CDFA or other divorce-informed advisor can assist you in creating budgets and savings plans. They’ll provide the guidance you need to help you resume life in a more financially comfortable state. 

Support During an Emotionally Trying Time

Divorce is an emotionally taxing process. Financial disagreements are often a major factor in the conflict and stress involved in a divorce. 

A CDFA provides objective analysis and recommendations for resolving financial disputes. This steady, informed, and reassuring guidance provides a great deal of emotional relief during an incredibly stressful time. 

Get Financial Guidance for Arizona Divorce Cases Today

A divorce marks a turning point for many aspects of your life, including your finances. During this time, working with a certified CDFA in Arizona can give you a necessary advantage when discussing financial matters during proceedings. To ensure the best outcome, working with a divorce financial planner is one of the best choices you’ll make. 

At Bridge Divorce Strategies, we provide financial advising and planning services for women in Arizona who are going through divorce. We also work directly with legal teams by providing expert witness testimony and consultations.  

Stay in control of your financial future. Contact us anytime for CDFA and other certified divorce financial advising services.