--- title: The 3 Most Important Things to Do Before Announcing You Want a Divorce description: Ready to call it quits on your marriage? A little early planning can go far in helping you protect your finances. authors: - name: Farnoosh Torabi url: https://money.com/author/farnoosh-torabi/ at_money_since: 2014 articles: 10 covers: - Personal Finance - Career Advice - Housing - Lifestyle social: - https://x.com/FARNOOSH former_staff: true published: '2015-01-13T19:22:30.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T05:03:07.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - Breakup - Divorce - divorce costs - Divorce Season - Financial Planning - Love and Money - Marriage word_count: 482 canonical: https://money.com/how-to-prepare-for-divorce/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![150109_FF_divorce_1](https://img.money.com/2015/01/756275131.jpg?crop=0px%2C229px%2C4875px%2C2742px&quality=85) With "new year, new you" resolutions in full swing and the holidays finally over, January is [one of the hottest months](http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/17/living/january-divorce-month-matrimony/) for divorce filings. "Last year I saw a 10 to 15% increase in consultations in January, peaking at a more than 40% increase in March," says [Lisa Decker](http://www.divorcemoneymatters.com/), a certified divorce financial analyst in Kennesaw, Ga. “I refer to January as the beginning of ‘Divorce Season.'" If you’re among those who've decided that 2015 is the year you'll go from married to single, make sure you’re ready for the financial toll that the divorce process can take by making these key move before announcing you want out. **Gather Key Docs** “Once a divorce has been initiated, financial information can disappear or become difficult to access,” says Carl Palatnik, a divorce financial analyst in Melville, NY. With that in mind, begin gathering copies of any documents that verify assets, liabilities, income and expenses, including recent bank, brokerage and retirement statements, tax returns, and real estate deeds—and the prenup, if you have one. This step can take three to six months, depending on how accessible the documents are, adds Decker. Having a paper trail saves stress, time and money. “You won’t be captive to your spouse, hoping he or she will provide things to you,” says Decker. Nor will you have to pay your lawyer to go after this information. **Stash Some Cash** Ideally you want to have a year’s worth of basic living expenses in a personal account prior to filing. If all your money’s co-mingled and you have no way of opening your own account and making deposits without raising red flags, open a credit card with a low or introductory 0% interest rate, says Decker. This step is important because divorce proceedings could take six months or more, during which time you may lose access to spousal support. Plus, you’ll need to lay out another $10,000 to $20,000 for an initial retainer if you plan to work with an attorney and/or financial advisor, says Decker. (If you earn significantly less than your partner or have no income a retainer could get a lawyer to petition to have your spouse pay ongoing legal fees.) **Sever Credit Ties** Finally, to prevent what my friend experienced, try to separate shared credit card accounts, says Palatnik. If your spouse is an authorized user on one of your cards, ask the issuer to remove your spouse’s name. If you’re joint users, freezing the cards may be your best bet. But wait to do this until right before making the big announcement. Otherwise, jig’s up as soon as your spouse swipes. *Farnoosh Torabi is a contributing editor at Money magazine and author of the book, [When She Makes More: 10 Rules for Breadwinning Women.](http://www.amazon.com/When-She-Makes-More-Breadwinning-ebook/dp/B00FX7LVSK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420686772&sr=8-1&keywords=when+she+makes+more)* **More by Farnoosh Torabi:** - 3 Ways Couples Can Dig Out of Debt After the Holidays - Should You Pay Off Your Spouse's Debts? ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/how-to-prepare-for-divorce/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Financial Planning", "item": "https://money.com/financial-planning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The 3 Most Important Things to Do Before Announcing You Want a Divorce" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/how-to-prepare-for-divorce/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/how-to-prepare-for-divorce/", "name": "The 3 Most Important Things to Do Before Announcing You Want a Divorce", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2015-01-13T19:22:30.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/how-to-prepare-for-divorce/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/how-to-prepare-for-divorce/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T05:03:07.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "The 3 Most Important Things to Do Before Announcing You Want a Divorce", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2015/01/756275131.jpg?crop=0px%2C229px%2C4875px%2C2742px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "150109_FF_divorce_1" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Farnoosh Torabi", "url": "https://money.com/author/farnoosh-torabi/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/farnoosh-torabi/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/05/140530_bio_author_torabi.jpg?quality=85&w=190&h=190&crop=1", "email": "farnoosh@farnoosh.tv", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/FARNOOSH" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2015-01-13T19:22:30.000Z", "description": "Ready to call it quits on your marriage? 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