Glazer encourages coming to the negotiation table with a complete inventory of family assets before taking a divorce settlement. Ask for statements from retirement plans a spouse participates in and for full disclosure when a spouse owns a business. Often “there’s an invisible life taking place outside the marriage,” she said, with separate business activities, tax returns and excursions.
A lower or non-income earner who has sacrificed many earning years shouldn’t just “shake hands and walk away,” she said. “Gauge where you want to land.” The present and the future are important, she said.
It’s often possible to move to a less expensive residence in the same community, she added. “Kids are not necessarily looking to live in the home with the biggest dining room,” she said, “and the fanciest fixture.”