CDFA
Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®
BROCHURE
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Role of A CDFA®
Since 2015 Diane has been a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® professional and assists clients, couples and their attorneys to better understand the financial complexities surrounding divorce and to forecast the long-term effects of alternative settlement proposals. The role of a CDFA® is to assist the client and his/her lawyer to understand how the financial decisions he/she makes today will impact the client’s financial future.
Questions that a Divorcing Couple May Have:
- Where will the children live?
- Who will pay for their education and medical treatment?
- How do we value our property?
- Who gets what property?
- What tax issues must we be concerned with?
- How do we divide retirement funds and pensions?
- How will the lower-earning spouse survive financially?
- What additional financial support does that person need?
- Who gets the house?
- What happens if a paying ex-spouse dies?
Responsibilities of a CDFA®
As a CDFA®, Diane is someone who comes from a financial planning background and completed an intensive training program to become skilled in analyzing and providing expertise related to the financial issues of divorce. As a CDFA® she:
- Becomes part of the divorce team, providing litigation support for the lawyer and client, or becomes a member of a Collaborative Law team. In either event, the CDFA® will be responsible for:
- Identifying the short-term and long-term effects of dividing property.
- Integrating tax issues.
- Analyzing pension and retirement plan issues.
- Determining if the client can afford the matrimonial home – and if not, what might be an affordable alternative.
- Evaluating the client’s insurance needs.
- Establishing assumptions for projecting inflation and rates of return.
- Bringing an innovative and creative approach to settling cases.
- Provides the client and lawyer with data that shows the financial effect of any given divorce settlement.
- Appears as an expert witness if the case should go to court, or in mediation or arbitration proceedings.
- Is familiar with tax issues that apply to divorce.
- Has background knowledge of the legal issues in divorce.
- Is trained to interview clients so as to:
- Collect financial and expense data.
- Help client’s identify their future financial goals.
- Develop a budget.
- Set retirement objectives.
- Determine how much risk they are willing to take with their investments.
- Identify what kind of life style they want.
- Determine the costs of their children’s education.