Don’t think about how the divorce starts or what happened to get you here. Once you are in it – get out as fast as you can!
While there is absolutely no doubt that divorce is a marathon – not a sprint – with Divorce In Colorado taking at least 91 days, figure out how to finish your divorce within 91 days.
- Do not waste time.
- Do not waste money.
- Do not suffer the emotional and financial consequence of a drawn out divorce because your lawyer says you have to.
Here are the 2 Ways to Finish Fast!
Do the leg – work before you call the lawyer.
We have clients that spend thousands of unnecessary dollars on financial disclosures and discovery because they call the lawyer BEFORE determining what they need to fight about – if at all.
Only you know what is in every bank account, how much debt is on every credit card, what houses have what mortgages and agreed upon fair market values or appraised values, what is in retirement and investments, how much is everyone’s gross income, living expenses, and children’s expenses, and who is paying insurance.
While all of these questions seem overwhelming, there is a self-help form to take you through this.
With this form, you can determine –without spending one dime of legal fees –
- Monthly gross incomes;
- Monthly Deductions (Mandatory and Voluntary);
- Housing Costs;
- Utilities and Miscellaneous Housing Services;
- Food & Supplies;
- Health Care Costs;
- Transportation & Recreation Vehicles;
- Children’s Expenses;
- Personal Education Costs if any;
- Maintenance and Child Support;
- Miscellaneous costs;
- Debts;
- Real Estate expenses;
- Vehicle Expenses;
- Amounts in Checking & Savings Accounts;
- Life Insurance;
- Furniture;
- Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, Securities & Investment Accounts;
- Pension, Profit Sharing or Retirement Accounts;
- Miscellaneous Assets; and
- Separate Property
AFTER you have these numbers, whether you agree or don’t then resolution is so much closer.
Get An Answer To What You Don’t Know.
If you disagree how much the home is worth, talk to your bank regarding a re-finance process or a realtor regarding comps and a sale and agree upon a price of the properties. The values can be in ranges, and differ immensely if there is a sale involved or one party getting the other off of the mortgage, but no one needs to fight about it, or pay lawyer 350/hr + to ask a court what you should do….
If there is a business that needs to be valued, don’t let the lawyers fight about it. Talk to people in the industry similar to the business and find out who they recommend, find competent professionals to offer a value, and then at least have an educated value – whether it’s agreeable or not – before you start fighting about it.
If parenting time is going to be the issue, do not leave the fate of your own flesh and blood to the government by involving the courts, or lawyers who can easily spend thousands of dollars fighting about the best interests of your children and hire child family investigators or parental responsibility evaluators to the tune of 2500.00 to 25,000.00 to tell the court what they “think” is in the best interests of your children.
Instead, find a family counselor who will sit down with the two of you with and without your children and help YOU decide what is best for each child individually. I don’t know of a more un-utilized resource than pre-divorce family counseling.
If there are concerns with separate budgets, child support, or maintenance, then there are Certified Divorce Financial Analysts (CDFAs) who can work with you at the fraction of the costs of attorneys and assist with the financial planning for the family.
Keep in mind at all times, that while lawyers can advise you LEGALLY through the process, we are not family counselors, business evaluators, tax or financial planners, or real estate experts. When you hire a lawyer, you can expect them to advise you on all of the above, but if you file a case before knowing and at least trying to agree upon all of the above you will waste months or possibly years of your time, and certainly much more money than is necessary by involving counsel prematurely or filing for divorce before you know what you are prepared to walk away with at the end.
By spending much less time and without the interference of litigation determining the above, it is possible to have your separation agreement drafted and filed at the very same time you file the Petition for Dissolution, limiting the involvement of the courts or your lawyers.
By knowing your End Game before you begin your Divorce In Colorado you win. You win time, you win paying less in the fight of the unknown, and you win a future in peace knowing that you divorced well-educated in much more than the legal gamble of divorce.
Play well my friend ~ get to the end. Contact a Denver Divorce Lawyer to learn more!
