Divorce is often one of the most expensive choices of a person’s life, and it is shocking that the decision to end a marriage is frequently made with seemingly little regard given to the financial consequences.

While it is true that there are people captive to the process, many times I have observed successful individuals who have thoroughly planned out their lives decide to divorce without analyzing the decision in the same manner that brought them success in the first place.

This lack of foresight can be financially devastating, and there is a good chance it will derail any plans they have made for their future and retirement.

Financial Impact Of Divorce
For the sort of people who have been very meticulous regarding the major decisions in their lives — where they went to school, the careers they chose, managing debt, saving for retirement — it is surprising to see how little prudence is often given to the decision to end their marriage.

Divorce is one of the most expensive and important decisions a person will ever make, particularly for those in longer marriages: They have more to lose in a property settlement if they have spent the majority of their wealth- and income-building years together.

The financial ramifications need to be fully understood and analyzed before they decide to file for divorce, and many times, people seem to make this decision with little concern for the goals they have been working toward for decades.

Generally speaking, divorce cuts accumulated wealth in half while simultaneously magnifying expenses by a significant margin. This often occurs at a time where it will have a huge impact on a compounding program for accumulating retirement benefits, which can completely decimate any plans conscientious people have made for their future.

While there are plenty of variables that will impact each divorce individually depending on differing laws and circumstances, some general rules will give you an idea of how a divorce will affect a client financially:

• They should go into a divorce assuming a 50/50 division of marital assets.

• Essentially any property acquired during the course of the marriage is a marital asset and subject for division. This includes traditional pensions, 401(k) plans, investment accounts, real property, bank accounts, vehicles, etc.

• Anything that was previously separate that was comingled or retitle will likely become a marital asset.

• Incomes are marital. Whatever is accumulated from either party becomes marital money, even if it is kept separate.

• Maintenance rules will vary across the country, but a general principle is the wider the disparity between incomes and the longer the marriage, the greater the probability alimony will be ordered.

• Maintenance can be ordered in an amount upwards of 25 percent of your net income, and the amount of time you are ordered to pay may or may not have a set deadline.

Additionally, clients should consider the impact divorce has on credit, child support payments, issues regarding custody and intangibles such as a general loss of productivity while the divorce proceeds and a lengthy period of uncertainty that can last years if there are disputes over significant assets or appeals to the ruling.Additionally, you have to consider the impact divorce has on credit, child support payments, issues regarding custody and intangibles such as a general loss of productivity while the divorce proceeds and a lengthy period of uncertainty that can last years if there are disputes over significant assets or appeals to the ruling.

The Grass Isn't Greener
In my experience, the decision to divorce after a long period of marriage is often fueled by having met someone else, not a crisis that leaves no other reasonable option except ending the marriage.

Barring the relatively small percentage of cases involving abuse or some other horrendous circumstance, I believe a large portion of divorced couples that were married for 10 or more years could have celebrated their fiftieth anniversaries had they hung in there and would have judged their marriages reasonably satisfactory at the least.

Instead, after meeting someone new, many will suddenly decide that their marriage is terrible when that is not necessarily the reality of their situation. They think they have found something better, but most of the time that turns out not to be the case, and now they must also deal with the financial complications of divorce.

Anyone considering divorce (particularly individuals who have become successful during the course of a long marriage) need to consider the financial fallout of ending their marriage before pulling the trigger.

It’s ironic that the people who have planned their lives very analytically and have had a measure of success financially with very carefully scripted career and retirement plans will often approach the subject of divorce without the same foresight they have applied to every other aspect of their life.

Divorce is very often the single most important — and destructive — decision a person will make. This is a serious choice with real consequences.

You do not want to let decades of careful planning and hard work be destroyed on a whim.

Joseph E. Cordell is the principal partner of Cordell & Cordell, a domestic litigation firm focused on representing men in divorce. Since co-founding the firm with his wife, Yvonne, in 1990, he and his team of almost 200 attorneys spread across 115 offices in 30 states have helped tens of thousands of men going through divorce.