calculator 385506 1280

6 Ways to do Post-Divorce Financial Rebuilding


Going through a divorce can drastically alter a person as it changes a lot of aspects in one’s life including relationships, perspective, and lifestyle. One of the aspects that divorce greatly affects is a person’s financial situation. A divorce can leave a person not only emotionally drained but also financially. People who go through divorce lose half or more of everything they worked hard on, including their savings, home, pension, business, and other assets and investments. With all this being said, there are ways to slowly rebuild and improve one’s financial situation after divorce.

Keep Calm and Conserve Your Energy

Every bit of energy should be channeled towards saving and rebuilding finances whenever and wherever you can. This is easier said than done especially for someone who was left with a lot of financial worries after the divorce. Worrying about the things that happened consumes valuable time and energy from finding reasonable solutions to get back up. Having a determined mentality can help a person have a proactive mindset which can result to changing one’s mood to be productive.

Have an Inventory

Researching and gathering information is necessary in rebuilding. Creating spreadsheets is helpful to track your finances. Having separate sheets for varying income streams, for expenses, and for assets and liabilities can assist in monitoring one’s financial situation. The type of account, owner of the account, the account rate and each institution’s contact information should be indicated in every sheet. Gaining more information through the divorce process can clarify where and how matters will be. This provides a better concept on how to afford taking some calculated risks to start financial rebuilding.

Formulate a Balanced Budget

Adjusting to the income-expense routine after the divorce may take some time and getting used to. Acceptance of what is and the resources a person can work with after the divorce is the first step. Being more conservative and keeping track must be done if the average amount of what a person can spend is still unclear. Budgeting and cutting back are necessary steps until everything settle. Increasing our income by working more and combining that to the current resources on hand can help start the rebuilding.

Proper Naming of Accounts

Legal representatives can help a person going through divorce by giving advice on taking over the title of a person’s accounts, especially retirement accounts, and determine who the beneficiaries of these accounts should be. Good legal advice is significant in vesting and naming the beneficiaries of these accounts properly.

Learn to Prioritize

The first priority one should have if they do not have enough resources to survive every month is to have a budget and financial plan. If necessary, a financial advisor should be consulted to assist in saving and making one’s income grow. If money is a non-issue, income growth should be prioritized. This could be done in venturing into different investments and exploring new markets.

Have a Good Support System

Divorce do not only end the marriage; it also divides and separate a person from family and friends. It is crucial to pick the people who offers unconditionally support. There will be lapses in the process of one’s financial rebuilding and this is normal. In situations like this, those who are there through thick and thin will help in putting a person in perspective and his or her decision-making because they would want his or her financial rebuilding to be a successful one.

The following two tabs change content below.
Mr. Hutton is a Divorce and Custody Lawyer based out of Round Rock, TX. His background is with child psychology at Arizona State University where he received a B.S. in 2006, and he continued this by working with the Children’s Right’s Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law where he received his J.D. in 2009. Throughout his practice, he has been a strong proponent of utilizing modern technology to improve his practice and the representation of his clients. He currently is the technology chair of CAFA of Travis County and is committed to improving and modernizing the practice of law in Texas. If you have any questions you can contact him at timothy.hutton@austintexaslegal.com

Leave a Reply