It is commonly believed that once a settlement is reached in a divorce case and the divorce decree is issued that the divorce case is finalized. Unfortunately, 99 percent of the time, that is a misconception.

Usually, after a divorce settlement or trial, there is a host of housekeeping issues to complete and those are sometimes the most important tasks in the case that need to be taken care of. Failing to address these items can result in problems down the road.

In this blog posting Shawn Garrison offers some examples of post-divorce tasks you will need to complete:

• Receiving your divorce decree - The most obvious task is making sure you receive your decree.

• Property deeds - If a piece of property in the divorce is being transferred, the title needs to be transferred as well.

• Beneficiaries - Beneficiaries will likely to be changed on life insurance policies and retirement assets.

• Closing joint accounts - If you and your wife have any outstanding joint accounts open, they will need to be closed immediately after divorce.

• Personal property - Any personal property such as furniture, furnishings, clothing, etc. will need to be distributed.

• Health insurance - Typically, once you divorce you no longer cover your spouse on your health insurance.

• QDRO - A qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) is what is used to transfer retirement assets between spouses entered into a divorce.

• Estate plan - Following divorce, a lot of people overlook the fact that they need to come up with a new estate plan.

#Divorce #Finances