Divorce can be a difficult, stressful process. Addressing the complex issues involved in separating from your spouse and beginning your newly-single life can be overwhelming. As you work to resolve the various legal concerns and practical matters that arise during the divorce process, you may not realize that certain other aspects of your life will also be affected. One concern that can sometimes fall by the wayside is your use of technology, online services, and social media. During the divorce process, it is a good idea to comb through your online presence and consider the devices and systems you use and how these will be affected. Here are some issues to consider:

Reset Your Passwords

Whether your divorce is contentious or amicable, it is a good idea to change your passwords immediately to ensure that nobody else can access your accounts. A password generator can be used to create strong, completely random passwords that will provide the best level of security. This will prevent your ex-spouse from guessing any passwords that may be based on personal information (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.). If you need help remembering passwords, you can write them down in a notebook or save them on your phone where only you will be able to see them.

Back Up What You Want to Keep

It is common in most households for families to share electronic devices, such as computers or tablets. When dividing assets, you might not get to keep all of these devices. If you have any data on shared devices that you want to keep, such as documents, photos, or tax information, be sure to save a backup on a hard drive or another type of storage device. After making a backup, you may want to restore a device to its factory settings to ensure that your ex will not have access to copies of your personal files.

Going through a divorce can be rough. Not only does it affect your relationship and your children, but it can also have an impact on other aspects of your life. When dealing with legal issues, paperwork, court dates, and financial concerns, it is likely that your divorce will spill over into other areas, and it could become an issue at your workplace. While the end of your marriage is likely to be stressful, the last thing you need is for it to affect your career, and you will want to avoid any threats to your income and financial stability. However, with proper preparation, you can maintain a proper balance between your work and your personal life. By following these tips, you can ensure that your work will not be negatively affected:

Inform the Proper People About Your Situation

Discussions about your divorce are not good “watercooler talk.” You do not want to inflict the struggles you are facing in your personal life on everyone in your office with a listening ear. However, it can be hard to keep all your concerns bottled up inside, especially if you are concerned that the stress you are facing may have an impact on your work performance. Telling your HR manager and/or your supervisor about your divorce will help them understand what is going on, and they may offer compassion and give you more leeway if you need to leave the office early or take the afternoon off in order to go to court. If you are close to one or more of your coworkers, you may wish to confide in them, but it is best to do so in a private setting, either on breaks or outside of the workplace.

Manage Your Time Wisely

Dealing with court dates, paperwork, and legal concerns can be overwhelming. To ensure that you are getting your work done, you should allocate a certain time of the day to deal specifically with divorce matters. This will preferably be during your lunch hour or after your workday is finished. Doing so will help you avoid the need to juggle your regular work activities and matters related to your divorce at the same time. You can also save time and effort and stay more organized by sending your lawyer a list of questions at the end of the day rather than calling or emailing them throughout the day.

The choice to get a divorce can be a difficult decision to make, but it can ultimately be a positive step that allows you to leave a relationship that is not working and begin a fresh start to your life. As you begin taking the steps to file for divorce, it is important to be prepared for the changes that you will experience in your life. Divorce can cause a variety of difficulties for your personal finances if you are not careful. However, if you go into your divorce with a clear head and a qualified divorce lawyer, you will have a much better chance of coming out of your marriage in a stable position. As you proceed with the divorce process, here are some tips to help keep your finances in order:

Make a Budget

Your life will change in many ways after your divorce has been finalized. You will likely be in a different living situation, and you may need to make adjustments in order to be able to support yourself on a single income. You can ensure that you will be able to maintain financial stability by making a projected budget of your living expenses after the divorce. This should include rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, health insurance, auto or renter’s insurance, groceries, gasoline, and any other regular expenditures. If the income you earn will not fully cover all of your expenses, you may need to find new living arrangements or determine other ways you can cut costs.

Divide Marital Possessions Fairly

During your divorce, you and your spouse will need to determine how to divide your marital property in a fair manner. Illinois is not a community property state, so couples are not required to split assets 50-50. Instead, Illinois follows the principle of “equitable division,” which means that property is divided fairly, based on factors such as the needs of each party and the contributions that each spouse made to the marriage. You should be able to retain ownership of a fair portion of the property you and your ex-spouse own together, and if necessary, you can sell or liquidate some of these assets following the completion of your divorce.

When going through a divorce, many people wish it was as simple as dividing everything in half and ending the marriage. However, divorce is often much more complicated, and in addition to settling issues like the division of property, couples must also consider how taxes will affect their case. Here are a few ways that taxes can complicate the decisions made during your divorce:

Taxes on Alimony Payments

Recently, the way spousal maintenance (alimony) is taxed changed significantly, although this change only applies to those who finalized their divorce on or after January 1, 2019. For these couples, the person paying alimony cannot deduct the cost of these payments from their taxable income, while the person receiving alimony will not report it as income. This may have a detrimental effect on the amount of maintenance that a person will pay. In some high net worth divorce cases, the spouse paying maintenance may be able to reduce their tax burden by creating a trust that will be used to make payments to their ex-spouse.

Taxes on Real Estate

A person who makes less money than their ex-spouse may wish to keep the family home in the divorce instead of spending more money to buy or rent a new home. However, recent changes to the tax codes could also affect this decision. State and local property taxes are no longer fully deductible from federal taxes, and this could mean that the spouse who keeps the home may not be able to afford to pay property taxes. In many cases, it can be more beneficial to sell the house during the divorce and divide the proceeds between the spouses.

There is no right or wrong time to get a divorce. Even if you have been married for a long time, people can change, and circumstances may arise in which “irreconcilable differences” lead to the end of your relationship. There is a growing trend in which people over the age of 50 who have been married a long amount of time are now splitting up. This is called a “grey divorce,” and spouses who choose to end their marriage at a later age are sometimes known as “silver splitters.” 

There are many reasons older people choose to divorce. For one, their finances may be in a more secure place, and they may be more likely to afford legal counsel and have a comfortable life post-divorce. In addition, with growing life expectancies, after a significant time together, two people may have simply grown apart. No matter the reason, each divorce brings its own set of challenges. If you are going through a grey divorce, some of the issues you may face include:

Dealing With Retirement and Social Security

In most cases, one person’s pension benefits are considered joint assets, and they must be split between spouses during their divorce. This can be difficult for a person who spent their entire career earning a pension only to have a significant portion of it go to their ex-partner. Funds in retirement accounts, such as a 401K or IRA, must also be divided during divorce. These funds should be divided using a document known as a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). In addition, Social Security benefits may also need to be reevaluated, and ex-spouses should be sure to understand when they can begin receiving these benefits.