The impact of a divorce on one’s financial situation in Pennsylvania can be huge. Unfortunately, mistakes and failure to prepare may only make this situation worse in both the short term and the long term. A few tips may help with ensuring that the right steps are taken during a divorce proceeding involving property division issues.
First, having a helpful attack plan for understanding obligations and options related to retirement plans is important. Likewise, understanding financial assets such as pensions and IRAs is also critical. Either of these assets has its own tax implications and rules, which can affect what can and cannot be done with these assets during divorce.
In addition, the types of assets one chooses to keep following divorce may also be worth considering. For instance, keeping the family home may seem tempting, but perhaps having IRA funds may be more helpful long term in retirement. In an ideal situation, the assets a spouse keeps following divorce are the right ones based on his or her new life and desires as well as needs.
Dealing with property division can be confusing and tricky, especially if two divorcing spouses have varying ideas about how their assets should be distributed. If they are willing to complete informal negotiations in this area, they might be able to achieve a settlement that pleases both sides. Otherwise, they will have to take their issues to trial, where a judge in Pennsylvania will make decisions concerning them, although the final outcome may not be what one or both of the parties would have wanted.
Source: mvtimes.com, “Finance 101: Divorce?“, John Kageleiry, Aug. 21, 2017