5 Mistakes People Make AFTER their Divorce

Your divorce is over- finally! The last thing you want to do is think there is MORE to do (and possibly more money you need to pay). Unfortunately, the truth is there is LOTS to do after your divorce is over most likely. Below are the 5 biggest mistakes people make…

1. Fail to change title to their home and vehicle.

2. Fail to change names on financial accounts such as bank accounts. Plus, not only do you need to change the names on the accounts, you need to consider the estate planning options on adding another name on account, transfer on death, etc.

3. Failing to do their estate planning.

4. Not preparing Qualified Domestic Relations Order to transfer their portion of the Spouse’s Retirement Account. This Order is required AFTER the divorce is over and must be prepared by an attorney.

5. Not monitoring their credit report to make sure their Spouse is paying the JOINT debts set aside to him/her timely.

Another one not listed above is for those people who had some type of money judgment to pay. Ex. if you were to pay $5,000 to your Ex for the equalization of the division of assets or debts; pay attorney fees to your Ex’s attorney; after you refinanced the house you owed your Ex a specific amount for the equity in the house; money towards extra-curricular expenses incurred during a divorce; back child support or maintenance payments… it could be any type of money you were to pay other than child support or maintenance to be paid beginning after the Judgment was signed.

There are tons of practical things to do after the divorce too…

• Put your cell phone on a separate bill;
• Change the names on the utilities;
• Change the car insurance and health insurance;
• Making adjustments to your withholding to make sure you don’t owe taxes;
• etc….

At the end of the day, having the Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage signed by the Court is only the end of the legal marriage. Now the rest of the uncoupling begins.

If you want more information on the final push to say goodbye to your Ex, check out my publication, 5 Mistakes People Make AFTER their Divorce. I also have a Post-Divorce Audit Checklist available as well so you can make sure you have “dotted your I’s and crossed your T’s”.

Thank you for checking out our article here on Medium.com. I would love to earn your claps and have you share the article… so I am giving away a FREE Gift Affidavit for those Missouri residents who have not changed the title on their car. Now you can take the first step towards making sure you don’t give your Ex more of the assets set aside to you in the divorce. Enjoy!