Southern California Family Law Blog

When California couples are planning their weddings, the farthest thing from their minds is divorce. They are usually focused on creating a special day that will be remembered by all who attend. However, according to a new study from the University of Melbourne, the actual wedding date might be a factor in predicting the chances of divorce.

Researchers from the University found that some special dates seem to be connected to higher divorce percentages over time. Valentine's Day, for example, which is a popular date for wedding celebrations, is one of those dates. Researchers, who analyzed data for a million married couples, found that 11% of couples married on Feb. 14 were divorced within five years. The rate increased over time with 21% divorcing within nine years. Other specific dates, such as Sept. 9, 1999, which would be written as 9/9/99, also had higher divorce rates over time. The reason, some speculate, is because couples looking for cute dates might be more concerned with planning the perfect wedding celebration and less concerned with working toward a healthy, stable marriage.

Women in California who are considering divorce should first gather some financial documents. Having information means being prepared, and this will be important when heading into a divorce. First, a wife should get copies of her tax returns for the past three years. This will show the couple's income.

Next, she should get as much information as possible about her spending habits. Three years of bank and credit card statements can help in reviewing expenses. There are online software programs that can be linked to accounts and assist in categorizing this information as well. This will be important when moving into the next stage, which is creating a lifestyle analysis. A lifestyle analysis takes a realistic look at all expenditures and predicts expenses for after the divorce. A financial professional may be able to help with some of these calculations. The analysis should be as accurate as possible, keeping in mind that the low inflation rate does not account for large cost increases in some areas, such as health care.

When couples divorce, they often spend a lot of time and energy on how they will split up their assets. They often fail to spend an equivalent amount of time on how they want to handle the debt accrued during their marriage. However, that can have as significant of an impact on your financial future as your assets. In some cases, the debts may prove more substantial than the overall marital assets.

Familiarizing yourself with how the California courts handle debt in a divorce can assist you in making a more informed decision about how to handle the property division process.

In Manhattan Beach and across the United States, many couples seek legal counsel from a divorce lawyer. Both spouses may feel conflicting emotions, and long-term marriages are particularly difficult when one of the spouses decides to file for divorce. Major issues like property division cause frustration, especially when numerous assets are involved.

Many couples seek legal counsel from family law attorneys for handling finances after divorce. One problem involves changing bank and investment account titles from joint ownership to individual ownership. A divorcee who changed their last name needs to update all accounts. Joint accounts need to change into accounts owned by one individual. After the monies are split in a fair and amicable way, each person will want to deposit their separate funds in their newly established individual accounts.