Divorce
Essay Preview: Divorce
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Introduction
The United States has the highest divorce rate in the Western World, and financial issues are consistently cited as one of the top 3 reasons couples divorce. Unfortunately, most family law attorneys & divorce mediation professionals do not have the financial background, subject specific education, the financial communication skills, or the comprehensive financial planning tools to assist clients that seek fair & equitable solutions.
When assisting divorcing couples with their financial needs non-financial divorce practitioners either attempt to negotiate family assets one at a time (with little understanding of the tax consequences of their decisions), or they seek guidance from CPAs, business appraisers, or financial divorce professionals (CFPs, CDFA/Certified Divorce Financial Analysts, Family Law Mediators, etc.).
Based on our current analysis, divorce financial professionals currently use either their own personal financial planning spreadsheets or rely on one of a variety of financial planning tool options that address the clients needs. These financial planning tools can best be categorized as either Modular (a one question, one answer solution) or as Comprehensive (combining multiple questions, evaluates all answers in one single presentation solution).
Two examples of firms that focus their attention on the financial planning industry are The Institute of Divorce Financial Planning (IDFP) and Family Law Software Inc (FLS) . The IDFPs primary role is to act as the sponsor & administrator of the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) program (~ 1700 members), and as a subset of their program they offer their professional students their version of a Comprehensive Divorce Financial Plan. After “road testing” the IDFPs financial planning software there clearly appears to be a need for a more robust, interactive, and tax sensitive planning tool (See Reviewing The Competition, Page 6 & Appendix A)(at this time, we have not road tested” FLS software). Family Law Software Inc (FLS), at this point, is probably our strongest competitor and offers modular and comprehensive financial planning solutions.
At a time when a divorcing couple is in a highly emotional state, and mistrust is at its highest, individuals deserve a divorce financial planning tool that eliminates complexity. Collaborative Financial Services (CFS) will deliver a comprehensive financial planning tool that is easy to use, takes the financial guesswork out of cumbersome tax & financial calculations, and offers robust financial content with a user friendly presentation. In addition to the divorce plan, CFS provides each spouse with their own personalized financial planning roadmap in the hopes that each individual can begin to rebuild their financial and mental health.
Collaborative Financial Services Financial Planning Mission
To create a comprehensive financial planning suite of tools that will become the standard for the divorce industry
To create a comprehensive financial planning tool that provides divorcing couples with a user friendly divorce planning tool that assists in identifying fair & equitable solutions for divorcing couples
To create a comprehensive financial planning tool that provides each individual with their own personalized financial planning road map
The Target Audience
In 1997 there were a total of 1,163,000 divorces granted in the United States (U.S. Department of Statistics), which represents 4.3 per one thousand of the population.
In 2003 the divorce rate in the U.S. increased to 5.9 per one thousand and based on these numbers it is estimated that in 2007 there will be 1,760,000 divorces.