Gray Divorce Financial Planning
The financial decisions get harder when divorce and retirement arrive at the same time.
Divorce near retirement is not just about dividing what you have today. The decisions can change your retirement income, taxes, healthcare costs, Social Security strategy and how long your money needs to last.
Heritage helps you understand the financial consequences before important decisions are final — while your attorney handles the legal work.
What does a divorce financial planner actually do?
A divorce financial planner helps you understand what the financial decisions being discussed in your divorce would mean for your life after the divorce.
That can include comparing retirement accounts after tax, testing whether keeping the house still leaves enough money for retirement, estimating healthcare costs before Medicare, rebuilding cash flow on one income and determining whether your retirement plan still works.
Your attorney handles your legal rights, the settlement and the court process. Heritage focuses on the financial consequences of the options being discussed.
The Financial Questions That Matter Most Near Retirement
Divorce in your fifties or sixties can affect financial decisions that took decades to build. The account balances are important, but the bigger question is what those assets can actually do for you afterward.
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Retirement Accounts
A 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA and pension may all show a dollar value, but they are not interchangeable. Taxes, withdrawal rules and the way each asset is divided can change what you actually receive.
Explore retirement-account division -
Taxes
Two assets worth the same amount today may not leave you with the same amount to spend. We help compare the after-tax consequences of the financial options being discussed.
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Social Security
Divorce can affect which Social Security benefits may be available and when claiming them makes sense. We help incorporate the applicable Social Security options into the rest of your retirement-income plan.
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Healthcare Before Medicare
Losing coverage through a spouse can create a significant new expense before Medicare begins. COBRA, marketplace coverage and other options need to be evaluated as part of the retirement budget.
Health Insurance After Divorce -
The House
Keeping the house can feel like stability, but the financial question is whether the mortgage, taxes, maintenance, potential buyout and reduced liquid assets still fit the life you can afford after divorce.
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Your Retirement After Divorce
The retirement plan built for one household usually does not survive unchanged when that household becomes two. Income, spending, taxes, investments and risk all need to be rebuilt around the new reality.
The Settlement Total Is Not the Whole Story
A division can look balanced on paper and still produce very different financial outcomes.
A dollar in a traditional retirement account may eventually be taxed when withdrawn. A dollar of home equity is not spendable retirement income. A pension produces income differently from an investment account. Taking cash from a retirement plan can create consequences that do not exist when the money remains invested.
That is why our work starts with a different question:
What does each option actually leave you with — after tax, after expenses and after the divorce?
See what a retirement-account division could meanHow Heritage Helps
Divorce financial planning is not separate from retirement planning. The point is not simply to get through the settlement. The point is to make sure the financial life that comes afterward can actually work.
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Step 1: Understand Your Situation
We start with the financial picture as it exists today: the major accounts, income, spending needs, retirement timing and the decisions currently being discussed.
We do not determine what is marital property or what either person is legally entitled to.
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Step 2: Analyze the Financial Options
We model the consequences of the options you and your attorney are considering.
That may include taxes, retirement-account division, cash available after a transaction, healthcare costs, the house, investment structure and retirement feasibility.
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Step 3: Rebuild the Retirement Plan
We translate those decisions into the life that comes next: how much you can spend, when you can retire, where income will come from, how taxes may affect it and how the portfolio should support the plan.
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Step 4: Help You Implement the Financial Plan
Once the legal decisions are complete, the financial work continues.
We help organize the retirement and investment strategy around the new household and can continue as your ongoing retirement-planning and wealth-management advisor when the relationship is a fit.
Focused on Your Financial Life — Not the Legal Process
Your divorce attorney handles the law: legal rights and entitlement, marital-property questions, settlement language, court procedure and legal documents.
Heritage handles the financial planning around the decisions being considered: retirement feasibility, after-tax comparisons, cash flow, healthcare, Social Security, investments and the financial life that follows the divorce.
We do not determine what either spouse is entitled to, tell you whether to accept a settlement, draft legal documents or replace your attorney or tax professional.
When a question belongs with counsel or a CPA, we identify it and send it back to the appropriate professional.
Retirement Planning Does Not Stop at the Divorce
Heritage brings retirement planning, investment management, tax planning and retirement-income expertise into the same relationship. That matters because the financial consequences of divorce often continue long after the legal process is finished.
Meet the team
David Fortosis, CFP®
Owner & Lead Advisor
Charles Freeman, CFA, EA
Chief Investment Officer
Tracy Furman
Tax Director
Jeff Goodman
Retirement Income Specialist
Who This Is For
This work is designed for people divorcing at or near retirement, especially when retirement accounts, pensions, the house or future retirement income make up a meaningful part of the financial picture.
Heritage Wealth is based in Naperville, Illinois. We can work with clients facing divorce elsewhere in the country when our registration and service model permit it, and local clients are welcome to meet with us in person.
If the primary need is ordinary ongoing retirement planning rather than divorce-related financial decisions, start at retirement planning instead.
Questions People Ask About Divorce Financial Planning
- What does a divorce financial planner do?
- A divorce financial planner helps you understand the financial consequences of the options being discussed in your divorce. That can include retirement accounts, taxes, the house, healthcare, Social Security, cash flow and whether the retirement plan still works afterward. The planner does not replace the divorce attorney or determine what either spouse is legally entitled to.
- Do I need a financial planner if I already have a divorce attorney?
- Possibly, because the jobs are different. Your attorney handles the legal issues and settlement. A financial planner can model what the financial options may mean after tax and how they affect retirement, cash flow and investments. Heritage works alongside counsel rather than duplicating legal work.
- When should I bring in a financial planner during a divorce?
- Before major financial terms are final is usually the most useful time. That gives you an opportunity to understand the consequences while options may still be open. If the divorce is already final, planning can still help rebuild retirement income, investments, taxes and cash flow around the new household.
- Can a financial planner tell me whether a divorce settlement is fair?
- No. Heritage does not determine legal fairness, entitlement or what a court should award. We can show how the financial terms being discussed may affect taxes, retirement income, liquidity, investments and long-term retirement feasibility so that you and your attorney can evaluate the decision with better financial information.
- What does Heritage charge for divorce financial planning?
- The first conversation is complimentary and is used to determine whether Heritage is a good fit for the work you need. If we recommend moving forward, we will explain the scope and fee before any engagement begins.
- Can Heritage work with me if I do not live in Illinois?
- Heritage is based in Naperville, Illinois and may work with clients in other states when our registration and notice-filing requirements allow it. We can confirm whether we are able to work with you during the initial conversation.
Related Resources
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Dividing Retirement Accounts in Divorce
See how 401(k)s, IRAs and other retirement assets can create very different financial outcomes depending on how the division is structured and whether money stays invested.
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Who Is Responsible for Filing a QDRO?
Understand who typically prepares the order, what happens after the court enters it, and how to know whether the retirement plan has actually completed the qualification process.
Read the article -
Health Insurance After Divorce
See the major coverage paths before Medicare and the financial questions worth addressing when coverage through a spouse is ending.
Read the article -
Can I Afford to Keep the House After Divorce?
The buyout, what it costs at a later sale, and whether the house works on one income.
Work through keeping the house -
Can I Still Retire After Divorce?
Whether the settlement funds the retirement you planned, including the years before Medicare and Social Security.
Test the settlement against your retirement -
The Divorce Settlement That Looked Fair
Why two halves of equal face value are rarely worth the same once tax is accounted for.
Compare a settlement after tax
Talk Through the Financial Implications of Your Divorce
You do not need to have every document organized before the first conversation.
Bring the numbers and information you already have. We can tell you what we would want to understand next and whether Heritage is the right fit for the financial-planning work.