With complex asset structures, legal exposure, and legacy considerations, this moment calls for clear strategy—not just emotional resilience. Here’s your action plan for regaining financial clarity and building lasting freedom post-divorce.
Step 1: Conduct a Full-Scale Financial Audit
Inventory everything—with professional support:
- Real estate, businesses, and alternative investments
- Executive compensation, pensions, deferred comp
- Separate vs. marital assets (including pre-marital, gifts and inherited property)
- Trusts, LLCs, and offshore accounts
- Insurance policies and liabilities
- Estate documents and titles
- Safe deposit boxes and safes
Engage a forensic accountant (CPA) or divorce-focused financial analyst (CDFA®) to ensure complete transparency.
Step 2: Assemble Your Advisory Board
Divorce at your financial level requires coordination across disciplines:
- Divorce financial planner (CPA, CFP® and/or CDFA®)
- Family law attorney (specialized in high-net-worth cases)
- Private wealth advisor
- Tax strategist or CPA
- Business valuation expert (if applicable)
- Estate planning attorney
Goal: A tax-optimized, fair division that protects liquidity and long-term security.
Step 3: Reassess Lifestyle & Liquidity
Even the wealthy need to watch cash flow post-divorce:
- Will your current lifestyle be sustainable on new income or settlement terms?
- How will alimony, trust income, or portfolio withdrawals factor in?
- Are large assets (e.g., homes, art, private equity) practical to keep?
- What’s your liquidity runway for the next 12–24 months?
Work with your advisor to develop a lifestyle-adjusted financial plan.
Step 4: Protect What’s Yours
Post-divorce, you’ll need to update your entire risk and legal structure:
- Review all insurance coverage: life, long-term care, umbrella
- Update beneficiaries, POAs, healthcare proxies
- Amend trust structures, especially if they involve children, inheritance, or succession plans
- Consider prenuptial or postnuptial agreements for future planning
Ensure your assets are not just divided—but protected.
Avoid These Common Mistakes
Even seasoned investors and executives slip up here:
- Keeping illiquid or sentimental assets that disrupt future cash flow
- Ignoring tax burdens on transferred or liquidated assets
- Overlooking complex compensation packages or phantom equity
- Neglecting to update estate documents immediately
- Making emotional decisions under pressure
Final Thought: Divorce Is a Reset—Use It Strategically
You’ve worked hard to build your wealth. Now’s the time to realign it with your future, not your past.
Whether you’re reimagining your legacy, protecting your family, or launching your next chapter, divorce can be a powerful opportunity—if you treat it like a financial transition, not just a personal one.
Need Discreet Guidance?
We can assist you with strategy and planning for your divorce and specialize in high-net-worth transitions.
Jamie Blum, CPA, CDFA®
Director, Divorce Financial Planning and Litigation Support
Argent Bridge 2 Divorce (AB2D) provides divorce financial planning services. AB2D does NOT provide legal advice. All information provided is financial in nature and should NOT be construed or relied upon as legal advice. Individuals seeking legal advice should solicit the counsel of competent legal professionals knowledgeable about the divorce laws in their own geographical areas. Divorce financial planning is a fee-only process that does not involve investment advice, securities, or insurance transactions. Argent Bridge Advisors offers investment advice, securities management, and insurance services through a separate engagement.
