Planning for the future is an essential part of every divorce. Separating or divorcing couples often face major transformations in their financial circumstances. The bottom line is that two households must survive on the same dollars that formerly supported one.

Although divorce financial planning does not involve securities transactions or investment advice, Divorce Financial Planners integrate many of the methodologies of traditional financial planning into the divorce process.

Since settlements are in large part financial, Divorce Financial Planners can explain your options, help you set priorities, and lead you through the hard choices ahead.

Often, the financial data on which divorce outcomes are based is unreliable. This leads to future problems for one or both parties. Accurate financial information helps the parties achieve workable settlements quicker and accept realistic lifestyle changes when necessary. This is an important role of the Divorce Financial Planner and often results in better outcomes.

The Association of Divorce Financial Planners (ADFP) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) professional association.

Members of the ADFP include Certified Divorce Financial Analysts (CDFA™), Certified Financial Divorce Specialists (CFDS), Financial Divorce Specialists (FDS) and collaborative divorce financial specialists. The Association of Divorce Financial Planners is an independent organization and is not aligned with, nor does it promote these individual entities or designations.

An interdisciplinary association, Associate Membership is open to attorneys, mediators, accountants, mental health professionals, actuaries and other allied divorce professionals with a professional interest in divorce financial planning.

Practitioner Members research and analyze personal, business and tax issues related to divorce. We help individuals, couples, matrimonial attorneys and divorce mediators achieve fair and workable settlements.

ADFP Members are required to meet specific educational, professional, licensing and compliance standards. Our practitioner Members have licenses or designations that are periodically monitored by a governmental agency or other recognized professional entity. We aim for a high level of excellence and our members agree to abide by the CFP Board's Standards of Professional Conduct.

Agreement to adhere to ADFP Professional Protocols and Standards is a requirement of membership but should not be construed as a basis for any legal liability of the ADFP to third parties. It is strictly a condition for membership. The ADFP does not endorse, support or recommend specific members. It is your responsibility to carefully research, interview and identify competent and trustworthy professionals before you hire one.

The ADFP does not perform divorce financial planning services or take responsibility for divorce financial planning or other services offered by individual members. All ADFP members are independent practitioners and the ADFP does not validate member credentials. You should verify credentials with the appropriate granting authorities, including but not limited to public, private, and state licensing boards.

For additional information about the Association of Divorce Financial Planners or divorce financial planning or for help locating a divorce financial planning practitioner in your area, call 888-838-7773 or write to ADFP@DivorceAndFinance.org.

Divorce Financial Planning is a process, not a product.

The divorce financial planning process encompasses the time a divorce or separation is first contemplated through the time a final outcome that includes such post-divorce events as asset transfers and changes of beneficiaries is reached. During the divorce financial planning process, financial issues associated with divorce are identified and analyzed.

Divorce financial planning provides insights into financial issues associated with divorce or separation, helping parties arrive at knowledge-based outcomes. It is informational in nature and should not be construed or relied upon as legal or tax advice. Individuals seeking legal or tax advice should solicit the counsel of competent legal or tax professionals knowledgeable about the divorce and tax laws in their own geographical areas.

Divorce financial planning is a fee-only process. It does not involve investment advice or securities transactions. It is a process that focuses on a specific life transition. Divorce financial planning focuses on financial issues associated with divorce in both short- and long-term contexts. It involves the gathering, summarizing, and analysis of current and historical data and may include economic forecasting/financial modeling. Long-term post-divorce financial planning is not part of the divorce financial planning process and requires a separate engagement.

Traditional financial planning can take place prior to or subsequent to divorce financial planning. If traditional financial planning and elements of divorce financial planning are practiced in conjunction with one another, the resulting process falls outside the definition of divorce financial planning and into the realm of traditional financial planning.

The divorce financial planning process may include, but is not limited to, some or all of the following steps. These steps are:

1. Establishing and defining the client-planner relationship,
2. Establishing and defining planner-professional relationships,
3. Gathering, organizing, summarizing and analyzing financial data,
4. Identifying and addressing immediate and short-term financial needs and paying abilities,
5. Identifying and analyzing longer-term financial issues,
6. Developing options, opinions and recommendations,
7. Assisting in the implementation of direct post-divorce or post-separation financial outcomes.

To learn about the benefits of divorce financial planning, go to How You Benefit.

The universe of activities engaged in by a divorce financial planning practitioner is diverse, and a Divorce Financial Planner may perform all or some of the following services in a divorce financial planning engagement. Services may include, but are not limited to:

1. Financial statement preparation and analysis (including cash flow analysis, analysis of financial position and budgeting),
2. Assistance in identifying financial discovery needs,
3. Assistance in the preparation and analysis of interrogatories,
4. Assistance in preparing for depositions and court proceedings,
5. Financial review of transcripts from depositions or court proceedings,
6. Analysis of financial reports prepared by outside experts,
7. Assistance in the preparation or analysis of applications for pendente lite awards and arguments opposing such applications,
8. Analysis of current or projected needs and/or paying abilities,
9. Child support calculations,
10. Assistance to attorneys in the preparation of separation agreements, decrees, stipulations and pre- and post-marital agreements (but not actual preparation of legal documents),
11. Review of Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs), valuations and employee benefit documents,
12. Tax impacting of retirement assets, potential property distributions and alternative support scenarios,
13. Analysis of financial and tax issues related to the marital residence, the filing of tax returns and dispositions of property,
14. Analysis of unrealized capital gains and losses,
15. Review of tax returns to identify assets, sources of income, undisclosed, transferred, hidden or encumbered assets or carryover credits or refunds,
16. Identification and analysis of career assets, such as health, life and disability insurance, retirement assets, stock options, restricted stock, assets associated with nonqualified plans and other perquisites,
17. Review and analysis of estate planning documents,
18. Analysis and evaluation of marital lifestyle,
19. Analysis of short- and long-term potential outcomes of alternative settlement proposals on net worth and cash flow,
20. Analysis of long-term needs and paying abilities in different post-divorce or post-separation contexts,
21. Identification and analysis of tax planning opportunities and potential pitfalls,
22. Participation in strategic planning or settlement conferences,
23. Testimony as an expert witness in court and
24. Assistance in post-divorce or post-separation transfers of assets, changes of beneficiaries, trustees or owners of wills, trusts, retirement plans and life insurance policies and execution of QDROs.

Based on the above definition of the divorce financial planning process, the following are examples of services that fall outside the realm of divorce financial planning. The ADFP does not preclude members from providing such services, should members have expertise in these areas. However, it does require that services falling outside the realm of divorce financial planning not be identified as divorce financial planning services in a divorce financial planning engagement. Services such as these must be governed by separate and completely independent contracts:

1. Any services that might constitute the practice of law, including the drafting of QDROs or other legal documents
2. Business valuations
3. Pension valuations
4. Appraisals of real or personal property
5. Valuations of licenses and degrees
6. Valuations of stock options and restricted stock
7. Mediation
8. Tax preparation
9. Investment advice or securities transactions

Divorce financial planning can take place in a variety of settings. The Divorce Financial Planner can function as an unbiased (neutral) consultant or resource for both parties in a divorce or separation or in a financial advisory capacity to only one of the parties. The Divorce Financial Planner can function as an outside expert or as a member of a team.

The Divorce Financial Planner can provide divorce financial planning services in collaborative divorce, mediation, litigation and pro se (pro per) settings, in all of their respective models and variations.