[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","description":"This article is about how to protect your money during divorce.","articleBody":"Getting divorced can be expensive. Not only do you have to pay an attorney thousands of dollars, you\u2019ll also lose a lot in your divorce.  You\u2019ve heard enough horror stories about divorce to last you a lifetime. Here are some cold hard facts that will teach you how to protect your money during a divorce.  That house you\u2019ve worked for all your life? You\u2019ll probably have to sell it. Or, even worse, just give it to your spouse.  You know how you\u2019ve worked your whole life to build up your 401K? Well, you can kiss it goodbye. Not only do you have to give your spouse half, but you\u2019ll have to use the rest to pay her off in the divorce.  The truth is, divorce isn\u2019t always fair. Usually, one party ends up with nothing while the other spouse laughs all the way to the bank. So, here are 13 steps you can take to avoid being taken to the cleaners in your divorce!  1. Protect Any Money You Brought into the Marriage Believe it or not, most people who get married do not have a prenup. They\u2019re in love and they don\u2019t think about things like this. But you have to protect the assets you bring into the marriage.  As cold as it may sound, you have to think ahead and plan on how to protect your money during a divorce.  You have to track your finances. Whether you\u2019ve been married for 6 months or 6 years, it\u2019s never too late to do this. Check out an online finance tracking tool that can make this easy for you.  You can check the balances on your accounts all the way back to the date of your wedding.  Take the time to document what assets you had prior to the marriage. This will prevent your spouse from being able to take them from you in the divorce.  You\u2019ve heard that, when it comes to marriage, what\u2019s yours is mine and what\u2019s mine is yours? Not true!  Some of the assets that you don\u2019t have to split in the divorce include:  Property you brought into the marriage Gifts Inheritance Awards from lawsuits Contributions to retirement accounts prior to marriage Real estate you owned prior to marriage Make sure you meet with a financial planner to protect your non-marital assets. If you wait until it\u2019s too late, you\u2019ll end up giving half of this property (or more) to your spouse.  2. Keep Separate Credit Cards It\u2019s a good idea to keep separate credit cards. Sure, you and your spouse will have some joint cards. But you need to keep at least one or two in just your name.  If you have our own credit cards, you\u2019ll have a way to pay for things while the divorce is pending. Your money is going to be tied up for months or years when you get divorced. A credit card will come in handy when you need to pay for things like groceries and gas.  If you don\u2019t have a separate credit card yet, get one! You\u2019d be surprised at how hard it\u2019s going to be to pay your bills while your divorce is pending.  Before you apply for a card, check out your credit score. You want to know where you stand before you start applying for cards.  Make sure you apply for a card that gives you cash back. You might we well earn miles and cash back while you\u2019re racking up a balance on your credit card.  3. How to Hide Money During a Divorce \u2013 Keep a Separate Account! You\u2019d be surprised to find out that most spouses keep separate bank accounts.  Even the happiest of couples like to save for a rainy day.  And when you file for divorce, it\u2019s pouring! You\u2019ll need this bit of cash to get you by during your divorce. This is how it is best to think how to protect your money during a divorce.  It\u2019s a good idea to keep a separate account during the marriage. This allows you to put aside a little bit of money in case of emergencies. It also helps you hide some of your cash from your spouse.  You can even keep a few separate investment accounts. If you don\u2019t know how to do this, that\u2019s okay. You can check out online sites that teach you everything you need to know about smart investing.  Keeping separate accounts is a win-win. You get to stash some money aside and earn interest while you do it!  4. Freeze All Joint Accounts as Soon as You File for Divorce One of the most important things you can do is freeze all your joint accounts the minute you know you\u2019re filing for divorce. What happens a lot if as soon as you file, your spouse cleans out your accounts.  If your spouse spends (or takes) all the money in your account, there\u2019s not a whole lot you can do about it. You\u2019d end up paying more in attorney fees tracking this money down.  The smart thing to do is to freeze all your bank accounts immediately. If you have a separate account with some money stashed away, you can use this to pay your personal bills while the divorce is pending.  You should also call and negotiate minimum payments on all your credit cards and loans.  This is not the time to be paying extra on these debts. You have no idea who will get stuck with these debts in the divorce. You don\u2019t want to pay down a balance that you may not even owe.  Learn how to do negotiate your debts online. It\u2019s cheaper than paying your attorney to do it. And it\u2019s something you\u2019ll be able to do on your own.  5. Know Your Spouse\u2019s Finances Make sure you know what assets your spouse has. In this day and age, most people have pensions and retirement accounts. You need to find out what your spouse has.  When you have to divide assets in your divorce, you\u2019ll need to disclose all of your own investments. Your spouse is supposed to as well. But you never know how honest they\u2019ll be,  Do your homework. Ask your spouse what their retirement plans are. Check out their stock portfolio. See where the two of you stand.  You don\u2019t want to have to pay a forensic accountant to do all this. It\u2019ll cost you thousands of dollars. This is money you could keep in your pocket.  6. Fight Alimony A lot of people think you\u2019ll have to pay alimony if you get divorced. This isn\u2019t true. There are ways to avoid paying alimony.  With traditional alimony, you\u2019ll have to pay your spouse a certain amount of money every month after the divorce. You may have to pay it for years. Some states even allow for permanent alimony!  There are ways to avoid alimony. Offer your spouse a piece of real estate in lieu of alimony. Or cash out some stocks and bonds to pay her off.  The good news is you can learn to do this online. You don\u2019t have to pay thousands of dollars to do this. That would defeat the purpose! You\u2019re trying to save money not spend it.  7. Change Your Car Insurance Plan If you know you\u2019re getting divorced, there\u2019s no need to play the nice guy. Sure, you don\u2019t want to do anything that will hurt your family. But you don\u2019t need to be a welcome mat either.  One of the things most spouses forget to do when they file for divorce is change their car insurance plans.  Why should you pay for your spouse\u2019s car insurance if you\u2019re getting divorced? There\u2019s no reason to wait to do this until after the divorce.  Even though it may not seem like a lot, an extra hundred dollars a month adds up. If your divorce takes a year or two, we\u2019re talking about thousands of dollars.  If you\u2019re not sure what insurance plan is best for you, go online and do your research. There are some great online tools that will help you find the plan that offers the protection you need without charging you an arm and a leg.  8. Plan for Your Kids\u2019 Education College is one of the biggest investments you\u2019ll ever make. Like it or not, in most states, you are required to pay for college for your kids.  When you get divorced, your separation agreement is going to include college tuition. Even if your kids are small, one day, you will be expected to help cover the costs of their schooling.  One way to avoid paying more later is to create a trust for your kid\u2019s education now. Not only are there tax benefits to doing this, but it also helps you hide money during a divorce.  Another way to do this is to get your student loans paid off so you can take loans out for them later. There are some great student loan programs you should check out. You could get a payoff now and avoid years of interest.  For example, if you owe $50K in student loans, why not use your marital assets to pay them off? Isn\u2019t that better than paying them off later? This is how you hide money from your spouse during a divorce.  There is nothing wrong with paying your student loans off early. If you can smell that you\u2019re headed for divorce highway, don\u2019t waste any time. Get them paid off or refinanced now.  9. How to Protect Your 401K When you get divorced, you\u2019re going to be forced to liquidate a lot of your assets. If you have IRAs and stocks, expect to liquidate them.  You\u2019ll need to find ways to split your assets with your spouse. You also want to have options for paying your spouse off rather than pay alimony the rest of your life.  It\u2019s a good idea to look into this now so you\u2019re not blindsided later on. You want to know where you stand when it comes to your investments.  You also may want to consider moving your retirement money around. Call and talk to someone about this today. Don\u2019t wait until after you file because it may be too late.  There are also some investments that allow you to liquidate your assets for quick cash. There are some great sites out there that can help you do this. Check them out now, while you still have time to make some changes.  Your spouse\u2019s lawyer is going to get an accounting of all your stocks and investments. She\u2019ll do that as soon as she files. You need to get all your ducks in a row before this happens!  10. Don\u2019t Start Any Major Home Improvement Projects One big mistake people make is starting a home improvement project right before their divorce. For some reason, they think if they give their spouse the kitchen of their dreams, it\u2019ll save their marriage.  Why take on a huge expense when you know you\u2019re going to get divorced? That makes no sense. Any debt you take on during the marriage is going to have to be paid back. And, like it or not, the spouse who earns more will probably have to pay the lion\u2019s share of this debt back.  If you decide to some small projects around the home, be smart about it. Make sure you\u2019re earning cash back or rewards when you go shopping.  There are some programs out there that can earn you back tons of money when you shop. Join one now so you can start earning some points right away.  When you earn this cash back and rewards, save them to use when you\u2019re on your own. Why share them with your spouse if you\u2019re getting divorced?  11. Sell Some of Your Stuff If may sound cold, but you should sell some of your belongings. Why hold onto things that have sentimental value? If your marriage is over, there\u2019s no reason to look back.  During your divorce or even right after it\u2019s final, you can make hundreds or even thousands of dollars selling stuff online. No, you won\u2019t get the full price you paid for them, but who cares?  One man\u2019s trash is another man\u2019s treasures. Why not make some extra money? Sell things you have no need for after the divorce.  Check out some great sites to sell your junk online. You can kill two birds with one stone: rid your house of junk and make a few extra bucks!  12. Change Your Cell Phone Plan No offense to your spouse, but there\u2019s no reason to keep your old cell phone plan. You were probably paying for your spouse\u2019s phone. Why continue to pay her bill once you know you\u2019re getting a divorce?  As soon as you know you\u2019re getting a divorce, it\u2019s time to change your cell phone plan. There\u2019s no reason why you should continue to pay for someone else\u2019s phone.  There\u2019s another reason why you should change your plan. Now that you\u2019re going to be single, there\u2019s no reason why your ex should have access to your phone records.  If you have a feeling your divorce is going to get ugly, change cell phones as soon as possible. If you and your spouse are on the same plan, she can access your cell phone records at any time. You don\u2019t need her reading your texts. It\u2019s none of her business.  13. Make Extra Money Where You Can Divorce is very expensive. You want to save as much money as you can. You may have to start all over once your divorce is over.  One great way to do this is to find a way to make some extra money on the side. You\u2019d be surprised at how many different ways there are to do this.  Go online and check out all the different creative and fun ways you can make extra income. It\u2019ll really come in handy when you\u2019re trying to pay off your legal fees!  How to Hide Money from Spouse During a Divorce The bottom line is that if you\u2019re getting divorced, it\u2019s going to cost you. The good news is, it doesn\u2019t have to cost you as much as you may think.  There are ways to legally hide money from your spouse during a divorce. Review the tips in this article and put them into play.  They say that divorce is one of the most devastating things you\u2019ll ever go through. And while we can\u2019t help you protect your emotional well-being, we can certainly help protect your financial well-being.","name":"How to Protect Your Money During Divorce Article","datePublished":"2019-01-05","headline":"How to Protect Your Money During a Divorce: 13 Steps that Will Save You a Lot","image":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/how-to-protect-your-money-during-divorce.jpg","dateModified":"2022-08-04","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/personal-finance\/saving-and-budgeting\/how-to-protect-your-money-during-divorce\/","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Money-Done-Right-Personal-Finance-and-Investing-Blog.png","name":"Money Done Right Logo","height":"488","width":"60","@id":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/#ImageObject"},"address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","name":"Money Done Right Address","addressCountry":"United States","addressLocality":"Valencia","addressRegion":"California","postalCode":"91354","streetAddress":"23890 Copper Hill Dr Ste 139","@id":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/#PostalAddress"},"url":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/","publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/methodology\/","additionalType":"Blog","name":"Money Done Right","email":"support@moneydoneright.com","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/moneydoneright","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/moneydoneright\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/moneydoneright\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/money-done-right\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/moneydoneright\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/MoneyDoneRight"],"foundingLocation":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Santa_Clarita,_California","legalName":"Allec Media LLC","naics":"519130","parentOrganization":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/#ParentOrganization","founder":{"@type":"Person","hasCredential":["https:\/\/cslainstitute.org\/","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Certified_Public_Accountant"],"url":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/author\/logan-allec\/","spouse":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/author\/caroline-allec\/","image":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Logan-Allec-Money-Done-Right.jpg","name":"Logan Allec","description":"Logan Allec is a practicing Certified Public Accountant, Certified Student Loan Professional, and the founder of personal finance blog Money Done Right.  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