Pre-Planning a Divorce: Steps that Every Married Person should Take

Although most people spend months planning for their wedding, very few people plan for their divorce. Usually momentary emotional reactions or the quintessential "straw that broke the camels back" occurs. No one wants to seem sneaky or that they don't believe in the forever after but one out of two marriages end in divorce and yours might be the one or it might be the other.

The most common things that we see as divorce attorneys are things that could have been cheaper and easier to deal with if people just knew not to do them in the first place:

(1) If you own your own home prior to getting married, don't put your new spouse on the deed because you feel some sort of pressure or moral obligation. Mortgages typically have a clause which states than any transfer of the title if a violation of your mortgage. In divorce situations where one spouse owned the house before and therefore has the mortgage and the other spouse ends up keeping the house, a huge problem arises. The non-resident spouse has the credit pitfall and the resident spouse has nothing to lose and is on title and can hold up any refinance, sale, etc. Worse still, if the non-resident spouse dies, the house most likely falls to the now ex-spouse.

(2) If you get an inheritance then place it into an account that is in your name and don't mix it with your joint account. If you don't think that can tactfully be done then place it in an account in the name of your child or children with you as the Administrator.

(3) Place a provision in your will and/or trust documents which states that the filing of a divorce action invalidates any and all gifts or beneficial interests to your spouse.

(4) Each spouse should have their own car with each car being financed in the name of the spouse driving it only. This could save you if there are car accidents and/or judgments also.

(5) Separate property before marriage should stay separate. For those who are reading this that have divorced once, this is no great surprise but for those who haven't, if you have a treasured 1965 Mustang in mint condition or a family farm that was given to you before you were married then you need to keep it in your name.

(6) Know that any investments you make as a married person even if YOU are the one who made them with YOUR salary, are still half your spouses in a community property state.

(7) Presents are presents. There is a no "take back" rule in divorce law. The fancy watch or the big diamond ring that you bought with your money when you were dating does not get returned to you just because you get divorced no matter what happened that caused the divorce.

(8) Preliminary Injunctions are only as good as the paper they are written on. Typically, a joint preliminary injunction is entered in divorce that requires that both parties not incur additional debt or dispose of assets of the community until the Court makes rulings or the parties come to a consensus. Here's the problem, the pawn shop, the car lot and the mortgage broker doesn't give a crap about your preliminary injunction. Since your former spouse probably isn't going to volunteer the information if they are spiteful, your soon to be ex can trade in cars and the car could be gone by the time you find out, pawn your stuff or refinance your house on a 15 year mortgage where you can't afford the payments. So watch out, check the land records frequently, keep what you want in your possession and get that preliminary injunction out there so that people know about it if they are likely to extend credit to your spouse.