The First 90 Days of Divorce Financial Planning: Your Step-by-Step Guide
The decisions you make in the first 90 days of your divorce process have a disproportionate impact on how the whole thing unfolds.
Not because the settlement is decided in 90 days — it almost never is. But because the first 90 days determine how well you understand your financial situation, how well your team is assembled, and how clearly you can articulate what you need from the settlement.
I am Leanne Ozaine, a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. This is the roadmap I walk new clients through. It is organized by month because the sequence matters.
Month One: Get Organized and Get Your Team
The goal of month one is not to make decisions. It is to get clear on what you have and who is in your corner.
Week 1-2: Gather Every Financial Document You Can Access
Before attorneys get involved, before discovery requests are filed, gather what you can access now:
- Last 3 years of federal and state tax returns
- All bank account statements (checking, savings, money market) — last 12 months
- All retirement account statements (401k, IRA, pension statements)
- All investment account statements
- Mortgage statement and home equity documents
- Vehicle titles and loan statements
- Life insurance policies (especially any with cash value)
- Pay stubs for both spouses
- Credit card statements (all cards, last 6 months)
- Any prenuptial or postnuptial agreements
- Social Security statements for both spouses (ssa.gov)
Store everything securely — either digitally in a cloud account only you access, or physically somewhere your spouse cannot reach.
Week 2-3: Open Accounts in Your Name
If you do not have individual financial accounts, open them:
- A checking account in your name only
- A savings account in your name only
- A credit card in your name only (if you do not already have one)
This is basic financial self-protection, not anything adversarial. You need to be able to pay your attorney, cover living expenses, and function financially as an independent person.
Week 3-4: Pull Your Credit Reports
Get all three credit reports from annualcreditreport.com. Know every account your name is attached to, what the balances are, and what your credit score looks like. This tells you your starting point and reveals any surprises.
Week 4: Assemble Your Team
At minimum, you need a family law attorney. For any divorce involving retirement accounts, real estate, significant investments, or potential alimony, you also need a CDFA (Certified Divorce Financial Analyst).
Your attorney handles the legal strategy. Your CDFA handles the financial analysis. These are different functions and you need both.
[Listen: Leanne explains where to start when you don’t know what you don’t know -> /listen]
Episode 1 of The Private Sessions covers the first steps toward financial clarity during divorce. Three free episodes, no email required.
Month Two: Build Your Financial Picture
Month two is about understanding what you actually have and what your life looks like after the divorce.
Inventory the Full Marital Estate
Work with your CDFA (or on your own if you do not have one yet) to build a complete inventory:
- Every asset, by type and value
- Every debt, by type and balance
- Net worth calculation: total assets minus total debts
Group assets by type:
- Liquid assets (cash, bank accounts)
- Investment assets (brokerage accounts, retirement accounts)
- Real estate
- Personal property (vehicles, jewelry, valuable collections)
- Business interests
This inventory becomes the foundation for your settlement negotiation.
Calculate After-Tax Values
This step is critical and often skipped. For each asset, determine its real value (after taxes, after liquidation costs):
- Pre-tax retirement accounts (traditional 401k, traditional IRA): multiply by your expected effective tax rate to discount
- Roth accounts: full face value
- Brokerage accounts: subtract estimated capital gains tax on embedded gains
- Real estate: subtract selling costs (7-9% of sale price)
- Cash: full face value
A CDFA does this analysis as a core service. If you are doing it yourself, the comparison will be approximate but still far more accurate than using face values.
Build a Post-Divorce Budget
This is the exercise that grounds the entire negotiation in reality.
List your expected monthly income after the divorce:
- Employment income (net of taxes)
- Alimony (if applicable — understand this is uncertain until the settlement)
- Investment income from assets you expect to receive
List your expected monthly expenses:
- Housing (mortgage or rent, taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance)
- Food
- Transportation (car payment, insurance, gas)
- Healthcare (premium plus estimated out-of-pocket)
- Insurance (life, auto, health if not covered)
- Childcare and education (if applicable)
- Personal care
- Discretionary
Compare income to expenses. Does the math work? If not, what needs to change — housing size, settlement terms, alimony, additional income?
This is not about accepting hardship. It is about understanding the financial reality of post-divorce life before you agree to a settlement that may not support it.
Understand Your Housing Options
The house is often the most contested asset and the most emotionally charged decision. Before you decide whether to keep it, determine:
- Can you qualify for a mortgage in your name alone?
- What would monthly housing cost be (mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance)?
- What percentage of your projected post-divorce income is that?
- What are you trading away (retirement accounts, cash) to offset the equity?
Rent as an alternative: Calculate what renting something comparable would cost in your area. For many people, renting is significantly cheaper in the short term and maintains more liquidity. This comparison is worth doing before deciding the house must be kept.
Month Three: Prepare for Settlement Negotiation
Month three is about being ready — financially informed and strategically prepared — for the negotiation process.
Review All Retirement Accounts Specifically
For each retirement account:
- Confirm it has been included in the marital estate inventory
- Identify what type of account it is and how it is taxed
- Determine whether a QDRO is required (employer plans) or a simpler transfer process (IRAs)
- Understand the approximate after-tax value
If your spouse has a pension, get it actuarially valued now. Do not try to negotiate around a pension without knowing what it is worth.
Review Your Social Security Options
If you have been married 10 or more years, check your potential entitlement to divorced spouse Social Security benefits (up to 50% of your ex-spouse’s full retirement age benefit).
Get your own Social Security statement at ssa.gov and compare your own earned benefit to what you might receive on the ex-spouse’s record.
If you are close to the 10-year marriage threshold, discuss the timing of your divorce with your attorney.
Understand What You Need vs. What You Want
Before negotiation begins, be clear on the difference:
What you need: The financial minimum that allows you to cover essential expenses and maintain long-term financial security (retirement savings, adequate liquidity, housing stability).
What you want: The ideal outcome beyond the minimum.
Going into negotiation knowing both of these helps you make real-time decisions about what is worth fighting for and what is worth conceding.
Have the CDFA Analysis Ready
Before your attorney begins formal negotiations, have the CDFA’s analysis of the marital estate in hand. This includes:
- After-tax values of all assets
- A comparison of different proposed settlement scenarios
- Your post-divorce financial projection
- Specific concerns or vulnerabilities in any settlement structure
This document supports your attorney’s negotiation. It changes the conversation from “I want more” to “here is why the proposed terms do not reflect equal real-world value.”
What Happens After Month Three
The formal negotiation process can take anywhere from a few months to over a year depending on complexity and conflict level. But if you have done the work in the first 90 days:
- You have your financial picture completely organized
- You know the after-tax value of every asset
- You have a post-divorce financial projection
- Your team is in place and aligned
- You know what you need from the settlement
That preparation does not guarantee a perfect outcome. Divorce involves another person, and that person has their own attorney and interests. But it means you negotiate from clarity rather than confusion. You know the real numbers. You know what matters.
That alone makes the first 90 days worth every hour of effort.
[Listen to The Private Sessions — 3 free episodes, no email required -> /listen]
Leanne Ozaine is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and Financial Planner with over 20 years of experience. She went through her own divorce after 25 years of marriage. She works with both men and women nationwide. Listen to her free Private Sessions at fearlessdivorce.com/listen, or visit privateadvisory.co to work with her directly.