3 Accounting Factors To Consider During Divorce
Marriage is not only a physical partnership. In most cases, marriage is also a financial partnership. Therefore, if you are ending your marriage, you will most likely need to end a few financial partnerships as well. Thankfully, help is available when it comes to sorting out marital finances and assets when dissolving the marriage. Here are a few accounting factors to consider during a divorce.
Assets
Even though your divorce attorney will help you through the process of sorting and dividing assets, an accountant can also be beneficial. Real estate, cash, precious metals, stocks, bonds, retirement accounts, pensions, jewelry, collectibles, cryptocurrency, and even life insurance policies may all be considered assets. An accountant can help you determine the value of these assets, allowing you to sell, trade, or divide properly. Of course, an accountant can also help determine the best option in regards to selling or dividing the assets between you and your spouse.
Support
There are also instances where you may not realize whether you or your spouse requires spousal or child support payments now or once the divorce is finalized. An accountant can help you and your spouse determine if financial support will be needed after the divorce is finalized and how much support would be beneficial or for how long.
It is important to remember that spousal support is not always awarded to the spouse who initiates the divorce. Factor such as the income of each spouse, living expenses, and where the child/children will live the majority of the time, will be used to determine who receives how much spousal and child support.
Taxes
While you were married, you and your spouse most likely filed your taxes together. Now that you are divorcing, you will need to determine how and when to file your taxes separately. An accountant can walk you and your spouse through the best manner of filing your taxes. This may include filing jointly for the year you are separated until the divorce is actually finalized.
If you and your spouse are selling assets, such as real estate, there will be specific tax regulations to follow. While an attorney can be helpful, an accountant is best for helping you file your taxes properly, reducing any risk of unnecessary fees or an audit.
Ending a marriage can be difficult, but help is available to ensure it does not become a financial/accounting nightmare. This guide will help you understand the benefits of consulting an accountant during your divorce. Contact a company that offers tax and accounting services in order to learn more.