Step 2: Make an accounting of the family finances

The next thing you will want to do is to gather as much information as you can in order to get a clear picture of your family’s financial situation. You may already have a firm handle on this, if you are the one that takes care of the finances in your home. On the other hand, you may have no idea what you and your spouse own or owe.

One of the primary functions of the divorce process is to make a division of the assets and debts of the marriage. In order to get a fair division, you must know what there is to divide.

This is a three step process:

A. Determine what you own.
B. Determine what you owe.
C. Determine income (both yours and your spouses).

I will cover each of these in more detail in subsequent, separate posts.