Minimise stress, delay and legal fees.
Stage 2
Preparing
Getting Into the Details
To reach a financial settlement, here’s the homework you need to do first:
- Get a clear picture of what your wealth is.
- Get a realistic understanding of what proportion of your wealth you can reasonably expect to receive.
- Work out your preferred mix of assets and liabilities (and child and spousal support, if they’re relevant).
Before You Announce You're Separating
In the period before you announce separation you may still have some access to information, accounts, and cooperative behaviour. Here’s what you need to do before that day, to protect yourself and your coming negotiation.
Read this Guide8 minute read
What Wealth Means In Financial Settlements
3 minute read
10 minute read
10 minute read
A: Everything. Learn what that really means. And what happens if one of you doesn’t fully disclose?
Read this Guide6 minute read
6 minute read
You have a choice when it comes to negotiating. But it’s not a choice when it comes to disclosure or creating your formal financial Agreement.
Read this Guide6 minute read
In short: Be practical. So here’s one way to avoid wasting a truckload of money and time.
Read this Guide6 minute read
Sometimes an ex says “You can’t touch my super!” Nonsense. Super is part of the pool, like any other asset. Let’s look at the reasoning.
Read this Guide7 minute read
This detailed Guide shows you how to find correct values for all the major assets and liabilities that form your total wealth pool.
Read this Guide20 minute read
Sensible and Realistic Expectations For Your Settlement
We'll dispel a few unhelpful myths, then explain the most helpful way to manage your expectations.
To digest these lessons, we recommend you follow the Guides in sequence.
Of course you want to know what you’re going to get in your settlement. But get your foundation right, by ridding yourself of these 3 misleading myths.
Read this Guide3 minute read
Uh, no. It’s not. Look, you do need to know what the 4-step process is. But… you also need to know that it’s nonsense to say that’s how your settlement will be decided. Let’s find out why.
Read this Guide8 minute read
Just in case you missed reading this in Stage 1. It’s so important, here’s the harsh truth once more.
Read this Guide12 minute read
Some people mistakenly assume that when you separate, everything gets split equally. But there is no such law, at all, anywhere in Australia. Let’s find out why.
Read this Guide4 minute read
12 minute read
Learn how “fact patterns” will help you narrow the potential range for your financial settlement to around 5% of wealth. This is a fundamental piece of understanding what a sensible settlement ratio should be.
12 minute read
If you’ve read the Family Law Act hoping to find actual rules about who gets what after separation, you’ll be disappointed.
Read this Guide5 minute read
Now check whether you should “tweak” the wealth split ratio to reflect some less common factors present in your situation.
Read this Guide6 minute read
Let’s work through examples of situations where it might be justified to modify your wealth split away from your “normal range”.
Read this Guide12 minute read
10 minute read
You’re rarely “entitled” to spousal support is rarely on the cards. But if you reframe the question and ask “Could I get spousal maintenance?”, the answer is Maybe.
Read this Guide6 minute read
Before you start working out the preferred deal, you really need to come to peace with the “normal” concept we’ve explained in earlier Guides. This Guide takes you through some more implications that will make it far more likely you’ll achieve a settlement.
Read this Guide15 minute read
Working Out Your Preferred Deal
10 minute read
The period before you announce separation you may still have some access to information, accounts, and cooperative behaviour. Here’s what you need to do before that day, to protect yourself and your coming negotiation.
Read this Guide8 minute read
We’ll look at the practical implications of the various assets types you’ll be negotiating to retain. You’ll need to think it through, form an opinion, then capture your conclusions in your Balance Sheet.
Read this Guide12 minute read
It’s a common component of financial settlements, so let’s look at what’s involved.
Read this Guide12 minute read
It’s very common for one of you to want to keep the house. Before you lock in that idea, research the reality of refinancing the mortgage (and maybe plus more for a cash settlement).
Read this Guide5 minute read
You think you’ve worked out the deal you want to take into the negotiation. But before you do, check out whether there are points of failure or danger that could make it fall apart.
Read this Guide6 minute read
Refinancing the mortgage is not the only issue you may need to consider. You might need to also think through cash flow, liquidity, tax, super and more. Let’s take a look.
Read this Guide8 minute read
Support for this Stage
Range Read
An objective assessment of your most likely wealth split ratio.
Best for: Looking to get a sanity check on your expectations and the core reasoning you need to know.
Fee: $200 +GST.
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow Modelling
A comprehensive model of your financial situation based on potential deal scenarios.
Best for: Anyone needing clarity of immediate and mid-term financial impacts of deals they’re considering.
Fee: $200 + GST
Review Your Deal Scenarios
A sanity check on the deal models you’ve come up with, before you put them to your former partner.
Best for: Individuals with one or more deal concepts, needing feedback on reasonableness, psychology and polish.
Fee: $350 +GST.
Settlement Report
A personalised, balanced and detailed recommendation for a sensible settlement.
Best for: Individuals or couples wanting to cut to the chase and receive a pragmatic reasoned solution in writing.
Fee: $500-$750 + GST
Strategy Consultation
A detailed review of your situation and preparation of an action plan.
Best for: Individuals feeling overwhelmed and needing a steady hand, a calm assessment and clarity of what steps to take.
[Note: Member Discounts are available for these services. Learn about Membership Plan options here.]
Find the answers you're looking for?
There are plenty more Guides in our other Stages: Understanding, Negotiating and Finalising.
We’re also continuously adding more Guides. If you didn’t find the info or understanding you need, ask us what you want to know.
We’ll create a Guide on the subject (usually within 48 hours). And we’ll email a copy to you personally.
Insights and Strategies You Won't Find Anywhere Else
We help separating people negotiate and formalise financial settlements.
Unlike law firms, we focus on practical, real-world methods and strategies.
Our Roadmap Guides provide crucial insights into how settlements really work, not in naive and fantasy-laden ways you might read about elsewhere.
Our Services provide unique, highly effective help to get you to a fair outcome – at minimal expense.
And our Community offers you shared insights and support from over 7,000 other Members.