Getting divorced? Engaging with a good Financial Planner can help save money in costs and could assist you in getting the fairest settlement.
A Financial Planner can assist with providing information in divorce in many areas not least being able to review financial information already gathered from your providers to identify errors and omissions (oh yes it happens a lot!) to ensure that your finances are accurately represented and that those of the other side are also fairly represented.
Some assets could have hidden value – for example long standing endowment policies which may be saleable for additional value rather than simply accepting a lower surrender value or perhaps waiting for a particular window to encash an investment to avoid penalties on surrender.
As you would expect, your Financial Planner should be able to advise what borrowing capability might be should loans need to be raised or further advances on mortgages arranged and possibly signpost you to the most appropriate lenders for the purpose.
From a practical point of view there are often many ways of achieving a separation of assets but from a financial and risk point of view, it is worth considering the effect of legally transferring assets using assignments or trusts.
A very important discussion regarding the risks involved in any settlement options in the context of your new situation should you wish to retain or indeed get allocated certain investments is imperative.
This will ensure that going forward you are comfortable with the risks you are taking on in various scenarios.
Finally, a significant area where specialist advice is absolutely essential is pensions. Pensions are often played down in settlements and sometimes ignored completely due to complexity, but nevertheless are generally an asset well worth proper investigation.
Financial planners need to hold specialist qualifications to be able to advise in this area due to it’s risks and knowledge required.
