Navigating a divorce is often a complex and emotionally charged process for couples—at any age—but it’s particularly challenging for professional couples in their late 30s or early 40s.

When you’ve recently entered peak earning years, are balancing demanding careers and young children, and have intricately connected assets and routines, the stakes are high.

If you don’t know where to begin, a call with your financial advisor—as well as your divorce attorney—are important first steps. Both have likely guided clients through this transition many times before, and their depth of knowledge and objective advice can offer calm in an otherwise chaotic season of life.

From a financial standpoint, ‘successfully’ navigating a divorce means preserving stability today while protecting your long-term future. Building resilience in this one area of life could be the first of many strengths you uncover during your newly independent next chapter. 

As you disassemble and work to rebuild following a divorce, focus on these five ways to maintain financial resilience:

• Get organized. Conduct a comprehensive financial inventory to understand what you own, what you owe, and what you spend. Gather documents from bank accounts and investment portfolios, real estate holdings, retirement plans, stock options, and other aspects of your compensation and liabilities. This clarity will be necessary as you value and divide assets during legal proceedings but will also help you identify short-term needs that span the separation.
• Prioritize short-term cash flow. In the first few months following a divorce, your expenses might increase. Legal fees and new living arrangements can put a strain on fixed income sources, and illiquid assets like real estate can cause temporary cash-flow issues. As best as possible, prepare for a potential cash shortage by strengthening your emergency savings, carefully evaluating monthly spending, and delaying large purchases until resources have stabilized.
• Don't rush to make decisions. Navigating a divorce is an emotional time, but emotion-driven financial decisions can lead to regret—and long-term consequences. As you divide assets, be mindful of not holding onto things you should sell, selling things you should keep, or overextending what’s possible for your single-income household. Taking time to make thoughtful decisions, maintaining perspective on your long-term goals, and seeking counsel from an experienced advisor will help you make more strategic moves during the transition.
• Consider the tax consequences. Dividing assets, selling property, and separating retirement accounts can all create taxable events. A tax-intelligent financial advisor is essential to help you consider the timing, method, and potential impact of separating your financial lives.
• Revisit what’s important to you. Until recently, you have been one-half of a couple—each with your own goals, preferences, and needs. Your previous financial plan likely reflected those shared priorities as well as dual-income circumstances that are no longer in play. It’s time to re-evaluate your long-term goals, prioritize what matters most to you in the short-term, and adjust income, spending, and savings strategies for your new reality.

Don’t forget to update your estate planning documents and beneficiary designations on accounts, so your current wishes are reflected in future decisions should something happen to you.

Building financial resilience is a muscle that needs exercise. Taking control of your financial life should be part of new routines you’re forming and—when done correctly—can be a source of newfound confidence, clarity, and independence. It is possible to navigate a divorce with your financial foundation intact and the future you desire still within reach.