Category Books

The Divorce Organizer and Planner »

Authors: Brette Sember
ISBN-13: 9780071429610, ISBN-10: 0071429611
Format: Paperback
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies, The
Date Published: May 2004
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Brette Sember

Brette McWhorter Sember (Buffalo, NY)

is a former matrimonial attorney, an author,

and a trained and experienced divorce and

family mediator.

Book Synopsis

Everything you need to take charge of your divorce and get what you deserve

Divorce is overwhelming enough without having to deal with the financial, personal, and legal paperwork. When you are organized, you feel more confident, and you are more likely to get what you want. The Divorce Organizer and Planner is your guide to managing your divorce and getting what you want—while keeping your legal expenses to a minimum. Written by a family attorney with years of experience helping people navigate the divorce process, this book empowers you with the knowledge and tools you need to take control of your divorce.

The Divorce Organizer and Planner arms you with dozens of worksheets, logs, checklists, and expert advice and explanations that will help you create a complete, accessible record of absolutely everything you'll need to confidently tackle the legal, emotional, and financial aspects of divorce.

You'll discover how to:

Find and work with an attorney who's right for you
Learn how to choose and work with a mediator
Gather and organize important information on property, investments, accounts, debts, insurance, and household expenses
Keep clear records of alimony, child support, and children's expenses
Develop a personal property inventory, a budget, and a wish list for property division
Decide what you want and what you need from the marital assets
Successfully negotiate with your spouse and keep stress to a minimum
Get the biggest bang for your legal buck

Providing everything you need to know to handle your divorce in a careful way, The Divorce Organizer and Planner will make a huge difference in the way you feel, the expenses you incur, and what you walk away with in the end.

Brette McWhorter Sember is a former matrimonial attorney and an experienced divorce and family mediator. A prolific self-help author specializing in making the law accessible to everyone, she has written fourteen books as well as numerous articles appearing in more than 140 publications, including Divorce magazine, and at MyCounsel.com and Lawyers.com.

Brette McWhorter Sember (Buffalo, NY)

is a former matrimonial attorney, an author,

and a trained and experienced divorce and

family mediator.

	Acknowledgments	xi
	Introduction	xiii
1	Getting and Staying Organized	1
	Dealing with Emotions	1
	Deciding What You Want	2
	Developing an Organizational System	2
	Keeping a Calendar	3
	Using To-Do Lists	5
	Managing Documents	7
	Other General Organizational Tips	9
	To-Do List	11
2	Protecting Yourself	13
	Dealing with Money	13
	The Home	17
	Wills	20
	Powers of Attorney	21
	Health Care Directives	21
	Your Physical Safety	21
	Safe-Deposit Box Inventory	23
	Household Belongings Inventory	24
	Self-Protection Checklist	25
3	Working with an Attorney and Other Professionals	27
	Finding an Attorney	27
	Questions to Ask an Attorney	28
	Understanding What Your Attorney Needs from You	30
	Working with Your Attorney	31
	Organizing Paperwork from Your Attorney	33
	Phone Calls with Professionals	33
	Paying Your Attorney	33
	Affording Your Attorney	34
	Other Professionals Who May Be Involved with Your Case	34
	Questions and Issues to Discuss with Your Attorney	38
	Phone Call Log	39
	Master List of Contact Information	40
4	Ways to End Your Marriage	41
	Residency	41
	Grounds	41
	Annulment	44
	Legal Separation	44
	Remaining Married	45
	Ending a Common-Law Marriage	45
5	Step-by-Step Through Your Divorce	47
	The System and the Way It Works	47
	Court Papers	50
	Appearing in Court	51
6	Settlement Options	57
	Mediation	57
	Arbitration	61
	Collaborative Law	61
	Settlements	62
7	Gathering Household and Personal Documents	63
	How to Gather Documents	64
	Working with Your Spouse	64
	When You Can't Get Certain Documents	65
	Organizing Documents	65
	Analyzing Documents	66
	Checklist of Documents to Gather	67
8	Documenting Your Income and Living Expenses	71
	How to Document Expenses	71
	Creating a Budget	73
	Income Log	74
	Expense Log	75
	Monthly Budget	76
	Unresolved Joint Expenses	79
9	Large Assets	81
	Separate Versus Marital Property	81
	Understanding Nonconcrete Assets	82
	How Large Assets Are Divided	83
	Finding Large Assets	83
	Finding Hidden Assets	83
	Types of Large Assets	84
	Contribution to Separate Asset	86
	Large Asset Separate Property Log	87
	List of Large Joint Assets	88
10	Documenting Debts	89
	Separate and Marital Debts	89
	Organizing Your Debt	89
	List of Spouse's Separate Debts	91
	List of Joint Debts	92
11	Reaching Settlements and Dividing Household Belongings	93
	Negotiating Settlements	93
	Dividing Household Items	95
	Appraising Items	97
	Disputed Items	97
	Settlement List	99
	Separate Property Items	100
	Items Taken Without Agreement	101
	Agreed-Upon Items to Divide	102
	Disputed Items to Divide	103
12	Child Support	105
	Purpose of Child Support	105
	Temporary Child Support	106
	Calculating Child Support	106
	Other Child Support Amounts	107
	How Child Support Is Paid	108
	Tracking Child Support Payments	108
	Due Dates	109
	Nonpayment	109
	Adjusting Child Support	109
	Children's Expenses	110
	Children's Uninsured Health Expenses	112
	Child Support Receipts	113
	Child Support Payment Log	114
13	Alimony	115
	How Alimony Is Awarded	115
	Seeking Alimony	116
	Alimony Rules and Regulations	117
	Tracking Alimony	117
	Medical Insurance	118
	Alimony Worksheet	119
	Alimony Receipts	121
	Alimony Payment Log	122
14	Custody and Visitation	123
	Tips for Avoiding a Custody Trial	124
	Thinking About Custody and Visitation	125
	Creating an Accurate Visitation Record	126
	Documenting Shared Custody	128
	Monitoring Your Children's Responses to Visitation	128
	Children's Preferences	129
	Grandparent Visitation	130
	Children's Reactions Log	131
	Grandparent Visitation Log	132
15	Witnesses and Evidence	133
	Why You Need Witnesses	133
	Types of Witnesses to Find	134
	Subject Matter for Witness Testimony	135
	Preparing a Witness List	137
	Being Your Own Witness	138
	Preparing for Your Spouse's Witnesses	139
	Physical Evidence	139
	How to Find Evidence	142
	List of Possible Witnesses	143
	Witness Worksheet	144
	Notes for Your Testimony	145
	Cross-Examination Notes	147
	Physical Evidence List	148
16	Custody Trials	149
	Documenting the Past	149
	Documenting Your Own Parenting Abilities	150
	Focusing on the Other Parent's Faults	151
	Parenting Classes	152
	Keeping Your Kids Out of It	152
	Siblings and Half Siblings	153
	Child Care Checklist	154
	Spouse's Parenting Abilities	157
	Parenting Journal	158
17	It's All Over! Now What?	159
	Changing Your Name	159
	Updating Your Insurance	160
	Protecting Your Credit	161
	Dividing Assets	161
	Leases	162
	Your Will	162
	Health Care Directives	162
	Wedding and Relationship Mementos	163
	Coping with Your Feelings	163
	Continuing to Track Payments	163
	Maintaining Your Household	164
	Managing Finances	165
	Important Documents for Your Child	165
	Receipts for Property Distribution	167
	Ongoing Child Support Log	168
	Child Support Receipts	169
	Ongoing Alimony Log	170
	Alimony Receipts	171
Appendix	Resources	173
	Index	181