| "Women in divorce often overlook valuable assets in | | | | debt. Asking an ex-husband to pay enough to allow his |
| the final divorce settlement." | | | | ex-wife to continue her previous life style may not be |
| Marriage creates economic inequality. | | | | realistic. |
| Consider these statistics: | | | | Other concerns for the wife |
| In the first year after a divorce, the woman's standard | | | | Another concern for the wife is whether to go back to |
| of living often drops by 25 percent, while the husband's | | | | work or whether to train for a better job. Typically, in |
| increases. | | | | the traditional marriage, the wife is either not working |
| Another fact: the higher the income of the family, the | | | | outside the home, or she has a very low-paying job. A |
| wider the gap between partners. | | | | career counselor may be useful in testing the wife for |
| The reason? | | | | skills and possibilities in the job market. |
| Most couples still invest in the husband's career while | | | | The wife often gets custody of the children. |
| the wife's job takes second place. Even though | | | | This has several effects that often are not considered. |
| society is changing, this pattern still holds for most | | | | First, as the children get older, they really do cost more |
| couples. And if the marriage lasted a long time, the | | | | to maintain! They have more expensive hobbies: skiing, |
| wife has lost at least a decade of career growth. | | | | biking, musical instruments, computers, etc. They eat |
| The courts often ignore this crucial issue when dividing | | | | more. Their clothes are more expensive. They might |
| marital property. Typically, divorce settlements divide | | | | need orthodontia. Items needed for school cost much |
| only the tangible marital assets - the house, the car, the | | | | more than a few pencils and paper. As schools cut |
| furniture. For most divorcing couples, this marital estate | | | | back, parents are required to supply all the essentials. |
| is not very large, averaging less than $20,000. | | | | Second, having custody of the children will influence |
| Career Assets | | | | what kind of job the wife gets. It will be very difficult to |
| On the other hand, many courts traditionally overlook | | | | develop a career where, to get ahead and earn the |
| one major asset of a marriage - the husband's career | | | | top salary, she will have to work nights or weekends |
| and career assets. These include his: | | | | or spend time traveling. So, her primary career will likely |
| - salary | | | | have to be flexible to allow her to care for the children. |
| - pension or retirement plan | | | | A third effect of having custody of the children is the |
| - stock options | | | | emotional and psychological difficulty of dealing with |
| - health, life and disability insurance | | | | children's issues and problems on a daily basis without |
| - vacations | | | | a second parent to share in this. All parents can relate |
| - sick pay | | | | to this. |
| - education and training | | | | Many don't understand the financial issues. |
| - seniority and networking | | | | Many wives have not been involved with the financial |
| - potential earning power | | | | issues during the marriage and just don't know what it |
| Unfortunately, many courts don't recognize career | | | | will take to live comfortably. They don't know what all |
| assets as property. So, even when a wife has | | | | the assets are and which ones they should ask for. |
| worked to put a husband through law school or | | | | They don't know if they should take one of the rental |
| sacrificed her interests - invested in her spouse's | | | | properties and become a landlord. They don't know |
| assets - she gets nothing in return. | | | | the effect of getting future benefits from the pension |
| Some courts expect equal independence from both | | | | versus taking a cash payout today. |
| partners. | | | | You can take action. |
| Sometimes the court will award rehabilitative | | | | With detailed financial planning, you can solve these |
| maintenance to ease a spouse into the work force. | | | | and other problems. When you're trying to work out a |
| But the courts base these settlements on the | | | | fair settlement, remember that the court divides |
| assumption - often false - that both spouses can be | | | | property only once, but career assets continue to |
| equally self-sufficient. Instead, women who have spent | | | | produce income for years. |
| 20 or 30 years in traditional marriages find themselves | | | | While you take that into account, your strategy should |
| out in the cold with no marketable skills and no real job | | | | also include such factors as earnings, inflation, division |
| prospects. | | | | of property, the amount and the length of maintenance, |
| What is a traditional marriage? | | | | and reduced standards of living. If it's clear that one |
| A traditional marriage is where the husband has | | | | person will have surplus dollars from earnings, make |
| worked and the wife has stayed home to care for the | | | | sure this is considered when the court is making |
| children. The wife has concerns about having enough | | | | property settlements and maintenance arrangements. |
| income to live on to continue her previous standard of | | | | There is a lot of educating that has to be done in |
| living. Sometimes, this is just impossible. Many couples | | | | some of these cases. Many attorneys bring in a |
| can't afford their standard of living with one household, | | | | financial expert to take part in this educating process. |
| let alone two, and they end up with large credit-card | | | | |