Whether you are leaving an urgent situation, or have been considering divorce for a long time, there are things you can do before you leave your marriage that will make it easier to separate in the long run. As you work through each of these items and tick them off your list, I hope you will feel proud of what you have accomplished and confident that you can do all that is required, with minimal stress and drama.
Smart Things To Do When You Separate or Go Through A Divorce in Omaha
If you are thinking about separating from your significant other and are wondering how to prepare for separation or what to do when separating, here are a few things to consider.
Changing passwords Is one of the smart things to do when you separate
Change the password on your email account; better yet, set up a new email account that your spouse doesn’t know about. Do not give your spouse the opportunity to access your account and see potentially confidential information (for example, an email from your attorney). Keep in mind that children’s electronic devices may be linked to your email account and thus visible to your spouse.
Changing bank accounts & credit cards is the next thing you should do when you separate
Open a bank account and apply for a credit card in your name only. Set both of these up so that only you have access to these accounts.
Determine and consider the following:
- Auto pays that are in place on any joint accounts or joint credit cards;
- Cancelling or moving auto pays to individual accounts or individual credit cards;
- Closing any joint accounts and credit cards;
- Having your pay paid into your personal account.
Beneficiaries
Change the beneficiaries in your estate plan and on your life insurance policies. Chances are that you have named your spouse as the beneficiary on everything that you can possibly name him or her on – change these.
Seperation Date
If possible, agree on your date of separation with your ex-partner and record your date of separation. Avoid the problem on one person continuing to take/contribution to a joint account after the other person has stopped.
The date of separation matters as the Court often uses this date as the date to value assets/debts and determine what is marital. This is often the date that the divorce action was filed but can also be the date the spouses started operating independently. Your partner does not have to agree to this date. You can even be considered separated and living in the same house, provided you have stopped living together as a couple and have started handling finances separately.
Valuable Items
Remove your jewelry and other small, but valuable property from the marital residence. Although the hope is that divorces can be amicably resolved, they do sometimes turn ugly and you do not want anything to happen to your great-grandmother’s wedding ring or the baseball that you caught at the Cubs game.
Save All Documentation
Start gathering the following documentation, in hard or soft copy. You will need most of this as you progress through your separation or divorce. Being able to get your hands on it quickly and easily will save you time and stress. Having a good idea of what accounts you and your spouse have and what debts you may owe also help prevent the other party from being able to hide things. Try to gather these documents for things in your name or jointly titled, as well as for those things in your spouse’s name only.
- Bank Statements
- Loan Statements
- Credit Card Statements
- Retirement Statements
- Tax Returns
- Health Insurance
- Motor vehicle registrations
- Insurance
- Recent paystubs
There are a lot of practical considerations
There are a lot of things to think about before you actually separate. Where will you live? How to be separated? How will you support yourself? Will separating affect your ability to work?
Sort out your financial and living situation as early as you can so you don’t have the added stress of dealing with them once the separation is underway. Don’t forget to pay attention to the little things, like who pays the internet bill or whose name the water bill is in.
Get everything squared away and be sure you have your own personal bank account as soon as you can.
Law Office of Julie Fowler, PC, LLO | Divorce Lawyers Omaha
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Shouldn’t you hire a divorce and family law attorney in Omaha you can count on? Because trial is not always the best option, our clients also count on us to fight for them at all the pretrial stages of their case. We work to resolve issues outside of the courtroom when possible to keep costs low and tensions to a minimum.
If you are faced with a divorce, child custody, child support action or any other family law cases in Omaha, contact Fowler & Kelly Law, LLP, the best Divorce Attorney in Omaha, Nebraska