--- title: Financial Impacts of Divorce description: To differentiate your group from others, it is important to demonstrate your training program to candidates. LIMRA tells us that today’s candidates, especially millennials and female recruits, are heavily swayed by the ongoing training and educational programs that organizations offer, as well as the technology by which they will deliver it. They see education as the pathway to growth and new opportunities. image: https://hello.fsednet.com/hubfs/AdobeStock_215531776.jpeg --- [![FSEDNet](https://info.hoopis.com/hubfs/FSEDNet_June2018_v2/Images/logo-sized1.png) ](https://hello.fsednet.com) - Who We Are - [![Schedule Demo](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4570472/162dd7e4-98c0-4297-85d6-465bc5e71a26.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4570472/162dd7e4-98c0-4297-85d6-465bc5e71a26) - [Sign Us Up](https://hello.fsednet.com/sign-us-up) CLOSE X # Financial Impacts of Divorce # Financial Impacts of Divorce Posted by [Richard "Dick" Cleary](https://info.hoopis.com/blog/author/richard-dick-cleary) on Mar 30, 2020 8:33:19 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) ![AdobeStock_125144041](https://hello.fsednet.com/hubfs/AdobeStock_125144041.jpeg) Going through a divorce is never an easy process; and, the longer you have been married, the harder it is to make that break. The breakup of a relationship and possibly a family, can wreak havoc on your emotional well-being, but a divorce also has considerable financial impacts for both parties. Whether your employees or your clients are considering divorce, or actively going through the process, they need to understand the financial impacts of divorce. Some divorcees find themselves dealing making financial decisions when their ex-spouse handled household finances. Others struggle financially because of spousal and child support payments. In any case, a divorce is a major life event which gives you the opportunity to help your employees and clients rebuild their life and find solid financial footing after their split. Here are some areas of consideration surrounding the financial impacts of divorce. **Real Estate** Unless you have a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement in place, once you decide to get a divorce, you will have to agree on what to do with your shared real estate. This not only includes your primary residence, but lake homes and other vacation houses, timeshares, rental properties, commercial real estate, and business properties. It may seem like these things should be an easy split, but this isn't always the case, especially when one or both parties have strong emotional attachments to one or more of the properties. If you choose to sell and have equity in your house, it might be in your best interest to sell prior to divorce. Jointly, you can take a larger portion of tax-free gains than that of a single person. Regardless of if or when you sell, you will have to decide how to handle any equity in your home.  **Financial Assets** With marriage comes many joint, and some individual financial assets. One of the biggest tasks of going through a divorce is evaluating those assets and deciding on how they should be split. It's always in your best interest to work it out with your spouse to avoid extra high legal fees or a judge's ruling. Financial assets you need to assess include, but are not limited to:  Cars, boats, ATVs, and any other non-real estate physical assets  Bank accounts  Cash value life insurance policies  Retirement accounts including pensions and IRAs  Stocks, options, bonds, mutual funds  Antiques, artwork, and jewelry  College funds and/or educational savings accounts  Yes, even Frequent flyer miles **Debt![AdobeStock_120170550](https://hello.fsednet.com/hubfs/AdobeStock_120170550.jpeg)** Unfortunately, it's not only assets which get divided in a divorce. Debt accumulated as a married couple must also be accounted for. In situations where one person is the primary breadwinner, it's likely he or she will have to shoulder the lion's share of the debt. This makes the first few years after divorce financially difficult for some. In fact, it can be difficult, if not impossible, for some to recover to the same pre-divorce level and lifestyle, unless they plan carefully. The biggest debts for most include the following:  **Mortgage.** If one party is keeping the house, he or she may need to refinance. In this situation, some couples choose to take the equity out of their home and pay debt, or the person keeping the home uses the equity to buy out their spouse. In some cases, couples might have little or no equity in their home, so they must make agreements about other assets to make an equitable split without selling the home.  **Credit cards.** You need to cancel all joint credit card accounts by the time you file for divorce and decide who will be responsible for outstanding debt.   **Car loans.** It's typical that the person who keeps a vehicle also takes the payment, but each situation is different. If your spouse is taking a vehicle and you won't be making the payments, you need to have him or her refinance the car without your name on the loan. **Taxes** In general, the United States tax code favors married households. When you get a divorce, you put yourself back to single, head-of-household status. Several potential tax considerations might impact you depending on your income level, whether you have young children, and whether you retain any real estate. In addition to the previously mentioned real estate tax considerations, some other ways taxes can financially impact you during and after divorce aside from include:  **Retirement assets.** If you try to cash out any retirement plans early because of financially struggles, you will be taxed heavily; however, you can transfer retirement assets during a divorce without penalty, as long as it's done in compliance with a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QRDO).  **Spousal support.** In divorces prior to 2019, alimony or palimony payments were tax deductible and the recipient needed to report payments as income. As of 2019, spousal support payments are tax neutral; the payer cannot deduct them, and the payee does not need to report them. ** Marital status for filing.** If you are still married on December 31st, you must file jointly for that year. Consult with your accountant to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of postponing your divorce.   **Child deduction.** It's common for the custodial parent to take the dependent exemption when filing taxes. When couples have a shared custody agreement, they might alternate years or split deductions when there are multiple children. ![AdobeStock_135925964](https://hello.fsednet.com/hubfs/AdobeStock_135925964.jpeg) **Child Support/Spousal Support** Child support and spousal support remain the central issues and often most contested issues during a divorce. In most states, the court determines child support by assessing the income of each parent, the custody arrangement, and the number of children. It typically lasts until the child is 18 or graduates from high school, whichever is later. You will have little if any control over the amount of child support you receive or have to pay. Spousal support is a different story; its purpose is to help the spouse with the lesser income adjust to the loss of income after divorce. While it's not always the case, if a court awards spousal support, it's often for half the number of years you were married. It can be less, it can be negotiated into one lump sum payment, or the recipient might altogether choose to decline the support. 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Learn More CLOSE X # What People Are Saying “FSEdNet is a game-changing strategy to help with the education of new advisors in the business.  The key to any training is to focus on being brilliant on the basics.  Dick Cleary and his team have created a turnkey educational program that helps leadership teams implement an easy to deliver training system for the fundamentals of success.”      **J. Christopher Noonan, CLU, ChFC Regional President & Divisional Executive VP, Equitable-Advisors LLC** "FSEdNet's delivery process and information will help your advisors become more confident in front of clients." ###### Garry Kinder, CLU, ChFC, CSA, Kinder Brothers International “NAIFA is excited to partner with FSEdNet to create the NAIFA Learning Center. We value the breadth and depth of educational content relevant for all practice specialties and the ease of access on multiple devices to the online video content. Core to NAIFA’s mission is delivery of critical training and professional support to our members—this program is a key component in meeting that objective.” ###### Kevin M. Mayeux, CAE, CEO, NAIFA "The best I have ever seen. Clear, concise and relevant - a platform that really makes a difference." ###### Paul E. Vignone, JD, LLM, CLU, ChFC, VP of Advanced Markets, Empire Wealth Strategies, Penn Mutual Life "FSEdNet is a comprehensive online resource that is filled with practical and actionable content. It provides its user with the fundamentals, as well as advanced learnings, for a successful financial services career." ###### C. Richard Weylman, CEO & CDO, The Weylman Center for Excellence in Practice Management "FSEdNet will engage your new advisors and staff in a new innovative way. Associates will absorb the basics and master the fundamentals through this connected learning platform." ###### Bonnie L. Godsman - CEO, GAMA International" "LIMRA research has found that young advisors integrate technology into all aspects of their practice. FSEdNet provides basic "blocking and tackle" training in an innovative and contemporary way, which resonates with today's financial professionals. Not just for agents and advisors, it's an invaluable part of my onboarding of new LIMRA research professionals - FSEdNet really delivers." ###### – Patrick Leary, LIMRA Corporate Vice President - Research #### "It's Time To Turn Potential Into Reality" "The Financial Services Educational Network, from the genius of Dick Cleary, is something this industry has needed for a long time. It is for many advisors, the missing piece. FSEdNet provides the educational background needed, in a myriad of topics, to give advisors the confidence to engage in meaningful financial discussions." **Harry P. Hoopis, CEO, Hoopis Performance Network, Hall of Fame** “FSEdNet is a game-changing strategy to help with the education of new advisors in the business.  The key to any training is to focus on being brilliant on the basics.  Dick Cleary and his team have created a turnkey educational program that helps leadership teams implement an easy to deliver training system for the fundamentals of success.”      **Mark Rooney, CFP, ChFC, CLU Equitable-Advisors, LLC, Hall of Fame Recipient** “FSEdNet has allowed us to focus on what we do best: find, recruit, select and train the future of our industry.  It provides excellent education, so our leadership team can do what they do best and that is joint work with our newest advisors.  I would strongly encourage any firm to embrace this as it will impact productivity.” **Ed Deutschlander, CLU, CLF, CEO, North Star Resource Group** "Bring back the basic training our agents need is the passion and commitment that Dick has made to the industry. As a long-standing professional in our business, he is well positioned to deliver the right product at the right time. FSEdNet is a perfect solution to the training needs of today." ###### **– Jim Kerley, Chief Membership Officer, LIMRA and LOMA** "I have been in the industry many years. FSEdNet is one of the most comprehensive educational tools to help new reps get off to a successful start and for developing reps to build and grow their business in years 2, 3, 4 and after. The ability to have this information at your fingertips, anytime, anywhere, on any device, 24/7 is truly a must-have for today's financial professional.” **Fred Walker, VP of Professional Development, Transamerica Agency Network** “At the Great Basin Agency of American National, we use FSEdNet faithfully. We find the product they have, and the support of Dick Cleary and his team is amazing, this is one of the best training tools we have or have ever had. The sales training and education are for agents and staff at all levels of their careers." **Ken Gallacher, CLU, ChFC, FSS, LUTCF, LACP and Thresa (Terry) Cochran, CLU, ChFC, CLF, FSS, LACP - General Agent, American National** "A revolutionary strategy to help train and develop your producers, regardless of experience. To make an impact, it must be simple to understand and use, and that is exactly what FSEdNet does. This turn-key educational platform will add true value to your value proposition, and will separate you from the competition." **Dan LaBert, CEO, NAILBA - National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies.** "Opening Up the library of videos offered on FSEdNet for our agents provides an immediate resource that supports the new agent experience after initial training and adds to that knowledge base in all areas. 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