How To Create A Divorce Expense Worksheet

By Diane Sanders


Handling divorce is a stressful procedure spouse across the world undergo. There are various activities that take place during proceedings whether you decide to settle the matter in court or out of court. The most important factor the court or parties involved consider is financial stability of spouses after separation. Legal experts determine the separation of assets, payment of alimony and child support. To complete this process, spouses are required to come up with detailed divorce expense worksheet.

Spouses engaged in separation, prepare spreadsheets and submit it before a judge. A spreadsheet contains columns for pre-divorce monthly income and expenditure. It also contains other columns for estimated income and expenses during post-divorce. A well-prepared spreadsheet helps the judge to identify the ability of a spouse to pay child support and alimony. The court is able to determine if a spouse needs financial support.

A spreadsheet can be completed at different time frames during court proceedings. The ability to prepare the document depends on the financial status of an individual or change of financial circumstances. Most spouses utilize computer applications to prepare a budget. Applications are easy to use and guarantee accurate calculations. Spreadsheet entries are presented as numbers, meaning your calculations are translated to dollars. Spreadsheets contain formulas which ease calculation procedures.

Preparing pre-divorce budgets can be daunting, however, you should be calm when creating spreadsheets. Avoid emotional ties when preparing worksheets. Start by listing your sources of income to create a realistic budget. Take a look at your tax return reports to identify steady sources of income for the last two or three years.

Note down your tax returns on the worksheet. Most spouses fine returns jointly, one of the reasons individuals have a hard time accounting for personal tax returns. It is important to note, tax returns will be filed separately after marriage annulment hearings. If you are among those who do not have a steady flow of income, skip the income part until you can account for income. If you are already receiving monetary support or child support, it is important you write the amount on the spreadsheet.

Determine how your income is utilized on a monthly basis. Your expenditure list should define how much you pay for the mortgage, insurance cover, utility bills, and medical expenses. Other expenses people incur are classified as luxury. List them down to decide whether to cut some off or not.

Once you have come up with an expenditure list, add everything inclusive of extra expenses. The items you wish to do without should be calculated in order to get actual expenses. Calculate the cost of basic expenses and subtract the total amount with that of extra expenditure. Determine if cutting off extra expenses helps you save money or not depending on your income.

Now, that you have created a budget, you need to put extra effort to stick to it. Remember, changes made on your expenditure should not be permanent. You only need to go without some items for a while as you get started after marriage annulment. Creating an expense worksheet does not require any special skill, but if you have difficulty with a budget consider hiring an attorney.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment