04 Sep, 2018
Even for affluent California couples working their way through the trials and tribulations of a divorce, establishing two separate households can be a daunting financial task. All too often, it is the woman whose financial future looks bleak, but this doesn’t have to be the case. In what has been termed the divorce gap , divorced women’s incomes tend to fall while divorced men experience a rise in their income levels. There can be various reasons for this pattern, but one way to offset the income disparity is for a divorcing woman to acquire a significant asset or assets in the property settlement of the divorce agreement. In particular, it is often important for the woman to acquire a home. For many reasons, but especially if the marriage has produced children and the wife is awarded primary custody, the wife often gets to keep the family home. Unfortunately, the family home comes with a high overhead. This can be difficult to keep up on, especially in consideration of the aforementioned income gap. If the sale of the family home is ultimately inevitable, many financial experts recommend selling it sooner rather than later and acquiring a more suitable and affordable home. Divorce mediation can be a useful tool in achieving an equitable settlement. A mediator acts as a neutral third party to work toward a mutually agreed upon divorce agreement that covers property division and other areas such as child custody, visitation and spousal support. Divorce mediation is a form of collaborative law that allows the parties to reach agreement, often with a lower cost and greater satisfaction.