In my online course, Woman’s Guide to Financial Independence After Divorce, I teach students how to prepare for changes in income and why they must set aside money in their budget to invest for their future. Alimony can be modified (reduced or eliminated) when the payer enters retirement. You Should Continue to Use a Budget After DivorceĬhild support is eliminated as children grow up. When composing your budget, it is important to distinguish expenses for minor and adult children from your own. In California, one of the statutory factors considered in awarding spousal support is the standard of living during the marriage which is often determined by analyzing household income and expenses.Īfter considering child support, divorcing couples with whom I work may decide to split children’s expenses equally or by some other formula. Errors or Omissions in Financial Disclosure Statements Can Have a Significant Impact on the Outcome of Your Divorceĭepending on the state, amounts for child support and alimony (also referred to as spousal support or maintenance) may depend in part on the expenses of both the supported and supporting party. If you use the spreadsheet version of the template, it will calculate total expenses for you. If you take the time to complete my free divorce budget spreadsheet template, you will be prepared to complete any state’s required expense disclosure statements. But who pays for meals, gasoline, and car insurance for Johnny when he comes home from college for the summer? While child support may not cover such expenses, someone has to pay for them unless Johnny is 100% on his own. Child support is intended to cover the expenses of minor children and not adult children. Neither state does a consistent job in helping people separate out expenses for themselves versus expenses for their minor or adult children. In contrast, California’s Income and Expense Declaration fails to include detailed budget categories which leads many of my clients to under-report their expenses. The form does a good job of prompting you to think about nearly every expense you may incur for yourself or your children. For example, New York’s Statement of Net Worth includes a section where you list your average monthly expenses. You Need to Know How Much You Spend On Average Each MonthĪs part of the financial disclosure process, many states require divorcing parties to list their average monthly expenses by budget category. I developed this budget template because there are many free divorce-related budget worksheets on the Internet and I do not find any of them fit my clients’ needs. It is bold of me to assert that I have created one of the best divorce budget spreadsheet templates you will ever find as you are preparing for divorce (or adjusting to managing your finances after divorce).
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