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Tax Tips for Taxpayers: Options for Paying Taxes to the IRS

By nicoledavis • February 12, 2019
How to Pay Taxes: Taxpayers Have Several Options for Paying Their Taxes to the IRS The IRS has provided the following tips for taxpayers who wish to make a tax payment. IRS Tax Tip 2019-07 The IRS offers several payment options where taxpayers can pay immediately or arrange to pay in installments. Taxpayers can pay [..] The post Tax Tips for Taxpayers: Options for Paying Taxes to the IRS appeared first on Reliance Financial Services.

Tax Preparer Tax Tips: Signs of a Data Breach

By nicoledavis • October 1, 2018
Tax Preparers Should Look Out for These Signs That a Criminal Stole Information The IRS has provided the follow tips for tax preparers and says they should look out for these warnings signs of a potential data breach. IRS Tax Tip 2018-152 Tax professionals should be alert to the subtle signs of data theft. The [..] The post Tax Preparer Tax Tips: Signs of a Data Breach appeared first on Reliance Financial Services.

What is Divorce Mediation?

By nicoledavis • March 13, 2017
What is Divorce Mediation? A question often asked of this St. Louis divorce mediator. This article explains the definition of divorce mediation with an example and touches on some of the differences between divorce mediation and litigation. The post What is Divorce Mediation? appeared first on Reliance Financial Services.

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Divorce Financial Planning Services

Divorce Financial Planning Services in the Metro St. Louis, Missouri Area

Often, proper divorce financial planning will determine your divorce experience, outcome, and satisfaction with your divorce financial settlement. It’s important to engage an experienced and qualified divorce financial planner and CDFA early in the divorce process to ensure that your divorce financial settlement is fair, equitable, and meets your overall financial goals and interests.

Divorce and Finances

A large number of marriages end in divorce and when couples split, so do their marital assets. In general, each spouse has rights to half of all property accrued during the marriage. Since every divorce involves finances it naturally becomes a point of concern and discussion for both spouses in the divorce process.

Here at Reliance Financial Services, we not only assist clients directly, but we also partner with our client’s divorce attorneys and mediators to serve as the financial neutral and divorce financial planner. We assist individuals, divorce attorneys, and mediators in evaluating various financial settlements – seeking to find the most equitable settlement for the divorcing parties. Please continue reading to learn more about the many benefits of enlisting an experienced and knowledgeable divorce financial planning expert during the divorce process.

CDFATM OR Certified Divorce Financial Analyst

A Certified Divorce Financial AnalystTM (CDFATM) is a finance professional that has been specially trained in divorce-related financial matters. A CDFATM has undergone extensive training and passed several rigorous exams exhibiting aptitude in the finance and tax issues related to divorce. CDFAs work with individuals, couples, mediators, attorneys and CPAs assisting with the financial analysis associated with various settlement options. Here at Reliance Financial Services, we have the training and certification to act as the financial advocate – we fill the role of the finance neutral.

Eliminating Fear and Uncertainty

Whether you are an individual, couple, mediator, attorney or CPA; working with a Reliance Financial Services CDFATM can help clients by:

We also reduce fears and uncertainty by making ourselves available to our clients; they are able to ask questions, voice concerns, and talk about their future dreams and aspirations. We strive to alleviate the client’s worries by always making ourselves available.

We do more than just crunch the numbers. We help clients develop and understand the short and long-term ramifications of each divorce settlement option.

Benefits

We eliminate the fear and uncertainty associated with the financial side of divorce. We accomplish this by sitting beside our clients to evaluate their current situation, understand their future goals and project the path to achieving their best financial future. Our process allows clients to begin envisioning all the wonderful opportunities that lay ahead because they have a clear path forward.

  • Saving Time

    A divorce can be a long process. Many litigious divorces can take at least a year to conclude. During this time, both parties have to put their lives on hold. Regardless of whether there is animosity between the former spouses, finances are very often a source of concern for the divorcing parties. The courts will need accurate records to make decisions about child support, alimony, and property division. A Certified Divorce Financial AnalystTM can help reduce the time needed to file this paperwork, by working with a client to locate the proper financial records desired by most courts. The CDFATM will use this information to create a robust financial case that can be quickly and easily modified to evaluate multiple different “what if” scenarios. Having everything in order will not only save time but also reduce stress.

  • Saving Money

    Reliance Financial Services’ clients can also save money by utilizing our divorce services. First, the time saved accumulating financial records means less billable hours paid in attorney fees. We provide each client with a checklist for gathering the correct information and allow each client their own case login. As clients gather the appropriate information they can then save the documents to their file and our team receives notice that new information is available for entry. This means less billable hours gathering information and less travel time because clients are able to submit paperwork electronically.


    Second, a CDFATM possesses the knowledge to analyze the state of both party’s finances to help clients make the right decisions. Divorcees often want to just get out of their current situation. Sometimes clients put their desire to “just get out of the marriage and move forward with life” ahead of sound financial evaluation. Such desires can put a client’s financial future in jeopardy. A CDFATM will be able to relieve the pressure by doing the long term thinking necessary to ensure adequate financial resources well into the future.

  • Helping Clients Consider All Ramifications

    Few divorcing individuals, or even lawyers, are aware of all the potential ramifications of financial decisions. There are just too many possible outcomes. Only a financial expert has the ability to consider the vast array of positives and negatives that could result from decisions made during a divorce. For example, many divorcing couples face tax liabilities that undercut the value of their assets taken from a divorce settlement. It is important for divorcees to understand that 50/50 does not always equate to equitable or fair. It is important to understand the impact on financial resources over time.

  • Helping Clients Face Reality

    Our Reliance Financial Services divorce advisors are practical in nature. Our overall goal is to make sure that clients live better. One way is by helping clients work out realistic budget projections for the future. People need to know just how much they will have to live on after the divorce is final. This information provides peace of mind because clients are able to see their full financial outlook and its workability.


    We are equipped, and trained, in conducting the financial activities associated with a divorce case, including:


    • Separate (non-marital) v marital property
    • Valuing and dividing marital property
    • Valuing and dividing retirement and pension plans
    • Evaluating the feasibility and sensibility of keeping the house
    • Determining the best settlement based on the short-term and long-term financial impact
    • Evaluating alimony and child support
    • Understanding the tax implications associated with each settlement scenario
    • Avoiding some of the most common mistakes made by divorcing couples
    • Budgeting, planning and preparing for the next chapter

    The optimal approach is to use our divorce financial planning services in conjunction with your divorce lawyer or divorce mediator. We work well as an addition to any advisory team. While an attorney can handle the court proceedings, they are not necessarily experts at divorce financial planning matters.  Leaving the important financial task to a qualified divorce financial planner and CDFATM (Certified Divorce Financial Analyst) is the best option for evaluating your divorce financial settlement options.

Attorneys

We are not attorneys but we understand the state laws & their application to the complicated financial matters of divorce. Our goal is to complement your efforts, provide supporting financial analysis for the case and serve as a sounding board for divorce settlement strategies. Clients typically misunderstand the financial realities of divorce which often results in heightened fear and anxiety. We help ease the client’s worries by walking them through the financial realities of the divorce. We accomplish this by helping clients get organized, understand their current financial situation, and illustrate their long-term financial situation based on the divorce settlement options available. We assist in managing client expectations and reducing the potential of future misunderstandings. We can provide such assistance whether a divorce is being resolved via the mediated, collaborative or litigious avenue.

Our support of your legal services is flexible and we can begin at any stage of the divorce process – from pre-divorce planning to post-judgment. Our partnership allows you to focus more of your time on the legal side of the divorce while we focus on the financial side. Working together often provides cost savings to your client while maintaining case efficiency in your practice. We also provide post-judgment support which ensures that all necessary changes, as outlined in the judgment, have been completed.

If you want to learn more about how Reliance Financial Services can help with the financial side of divorce please contact us today. We are available to help nationally, as well as in Chesterfield, St. Charles, Ballwin, Ellisville, O’Fallon, Arnold, and the surrounding St. Louis Metropolitan Area.