INDUSTRY INSIGHT
FAMILY LAW
SPONSORED CONTENT
FOUR WAYS TO
LESSEN THE
FINANCIAL IMPACT
OF DIVORCE
T
here is no question that divorce will impact your
finances. Often, couples are taking the income
which supported one household and stretching it
to support two. And when money was tight before
the divorce, this stretch can feel like financial ruin. Aside from
income, couples are often depending on shared retirement
and other assets. Now those will be divided to. So how can you
parties going through a divorce lessen the financial impact?
1) Settle. Going to court is expensive. Between filing fees,
discovery requests and answers, filing motions, preparation
for court dates and long court hearings and trials, the cost of
battling it out quickly gets out of hand. And, in most cases, this
Cook & Associates
Experience, Honesty and Results
Divorce | Custody | Support
Alimony | Division of Assets/ Debts
106 Arcadia Court
9380 McKnight Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
(across McKnight from the Outback)
Amanda C. Cook
412-366-8980
www.pittlawyers.com
kind of litigation is totally unnecessary. Two reasonable parties
with two reasonable attorneys can come up with a settlement
that would look very close to the outcome you might get from
court after weeks, months or even years of litigation.
2) Sell the Marital Residence. Selling the marital residence
doesn’t always make sense. Sometimes, the mortgage is small
enough that it would be difficult to buy or rent something
comparable. But, often, that mortgage is too much for just one
of the parties. And, when you factor in that the person staying
in the home will need to “buy out” the other party, it can really
become untenable. Though people are often reluctant to sell
the home they have lived in, it can be advantageous or even
necessary in many separations or divorces.
3) Work Together on Budgets and Future Plans.
Pennsylvania has a formula to calculate child support, and there
is a different formula for alimony while the divorce is ongoing.
But there is no such formula for alimony after the divorce is
finalized. Because there is a no real formula, there are wide
differences in outcomes when you go to court. This means
that each party is taking a risk by asking the court to decide
on alimony issues. But, if the parties share reasonable budgets
and discuss their future plans, it can become more clear how
the incomes might be shared and for how long. As an example,
one of the parties might be planning to return to school to raise
his or her earning potential. It might benefit everyone if the
other party pays alimony while his or her former spouse goes
to school. Or maybe one of the parties will have to maintain the
marital residence so that a child can graduate from the school
he or she has been attending. Additional support until the child
graduates might make more sense. Although the decision to get
a divorce terminates the romantic relationship, that does not
mean that parties cannot work as a partnership to fulfill mutual
goals for the betterment of the family as a whole.
4) Adjust Who Receives Liquid Assets and Support. One
party may need an income and the other has an income but
would like to protect his or her retirement assets. Or maybe one
party intends to buy a new house immediately and would like a
down payment while the other party has no such plan but would
like to retire a few year earlier. When crafting your settlement,
you can adjust which party gets what to align better with
specific needs and desires.
There is no way to completely eliminate the financial impact
of divorce, but if the parties can work together, it is possible to
avoid financial ruin.
This Industry Insight was written by attorney Amanda C. Cook. Ms. Cook is a Senior Associate at Cook & Associates located in McCandless Township. For over a decade, she has
provided her clients with compassionate representation during the often‑difficult divorce, support and custody processes. Ms. Cook is also a certified mediator. Other areas of
practice for Cook & Associates include estate planning and probate, real estate law and business law. For a free initial consultation, please call Ms. Cook today at 412.366.8980 or
visit the website at www.pittlawyers.com.
ROSS TOWNSHIP
❘
WINTER 2019
13