“Ready, Aim, Fire” is a lot more effective than “Ready, Fire, Aim”, wouldn’t you agree? So preparing for your divorce is not only smart, it is crucial. Decisions you make now or in the heat of the moment, can affect the rest of your life, and in many cases, the lives of your children. Educating yourself on the divorce process will empower you to be a stronger player and will assist your attorneys in representing you in the most effective manner.

There are many ways you can ease the process both financially and emotionally. Gathering of records, documents and a list of intangible assets is the first step to financial protection. This will include not only your assets but also your debts. It may include not only your personal assets/debts but your business assets/debts if you have interests in a business.

Tax returns, wills, trusts, deeds, titles, bank, investment and credit card statements, insurance policies, loan applications, loan statements, retirement plan information,... just to name a few.

There are also items you would want to collect to protect your pre-marital assets such as any inheritance records, premarital investments, retirement plans, gifts; all of which will remain yours as long as you can document them as being pre-marital.

In a mediation oriented divorce, this will help both of you establish a fair and equitable distribution. In a litigated divorce process, it will not only ensure that you are granted what is fair, it will do it at a tremendous savings, which ultimately allows the family to walk away with more of their hard earned money.