In every divorce the real and personal property of the parties is divided in some manner.
finances
In Oregon there is a presumption that both spouses contributed equally to the assets acquired during the marriage, and an expectation that assets and debts will be fairly divided. Mediation will help you explore these concepts and craft a unique financial outcome that suits your needs.
preparing to talk finances
We will help you with the process of exchanging financial information (“discovery”) to make sure all parties to mediation are fully informed. Discovery includes both shared and individual assets and debts. Once you have scheduled an appointment, we recommend you begin collecting and sharing your documents. Our Asset and Debt Checklist will guide you through the collection process. You don’t have to have everything together before the first appointment. This is something we will review in session.
budget
We will help you plan for your financial security now and in the future. Creating a budget is crucial to making sure you walk away from mediation with a plan that’s going to work for everyone. We’ve created a budget worksheet (also available as a MSExcel Spreadsheet) that streamlines the discussion, or you can use your own budget form.
child finances
Determining child support is a required part of a divorce or separation agreement when children are involved. Because it costs more to run two homes than it does one, it’s important that parents begin to figure out their new budgets from the get go. We’ve created a budget spreadsheet for you to use. The state of Oregon has a child support calculator to determine a payment amount meant to balance out the cost of caring for children between houses. We will discuss your child support options and run a calculation with you once your financial information is gathered.