Cheap Divorce: It Can be Done
If you're facing the break up of a marriage, then it's always difficult but many couples worry about the financial ramifications of such a decision. The good news is a cheap divorce is possible in many situations. I've experienced one myself and can testify that even though it was emotionally difficult it was the easiest financial decision I've ever made.
Because our relationship was not encumbered by children, we were in a good shape to complete a cheap divorce. Not everyone will want to take this route because it can be a challenge, particularly if one or both sides are resentful over the ending of the relationship. However, if the two of you can be civil then a cheap divorce is obtainable.
Most of the work on our cheap divorce was done via email so we could minimize face to face contact. Being in the same room together always resulted in an unproductive argument, but we could communicate easily online. You can do whatever works for you, even sending the information by fax is affective.
First, you should go through the personal belongings in the home. These are going to be the most difficult items to divide in a reasonable fashion during the cheap divorce so it makes sense to begin there. Everything else will be a piece of cake from now on. We had to schedule separate days to go through the house and to make lists of everything we wanted. I made two columns: things I had to have and things that were negotiable. When I emailed my ex the list, however, I combined everything. The second list was to help me decide which items I would be willing to negotiable on.
Second, we exchanged lists and gave each other a few days to look over them. At first, I was angry about some of things being asked for. Then I calmed down and was able to think rationally enough. We were able to reach an agreement on the items each of us wanted. Some of the things that neither of us had a real connection to were sold and we agreed to split the proceeds as part of our cheap divorce agreement.
Third, we decided to go through all of other joint materials, including checking and savings accounts. Again, we decided to split everything down the middle. The debt was a little more challenging to divide. However, we were able to negotiable an equitable agreement there as well. It took a few days and many, many emails but we were able to communicate amicably enough to achieve the cheap divorce goal we both wanted.
Finally, we were able to write up our formal documents that outlined everything we had agreed upon. Then we contacted our lawyers and handed over the lists so they could finalize and legalize everything we had already done. Because we had been able to do all of the hard work ourselves, we saved a fortune on the costs and achieved a cheap divorce that made both of us happy.
