Ask Jonathan Anything: Life After Divorce

Jonathan Breeden: [00:00:00] On this week’s episode of The Best Of Johnston County Podcast, we’re having a special edition episode, which we call Ask Jonathan Breeden Anything. And in this podcast, I answer questions about Life After Divorce, what documents should you immediately change when you get divorced? What documents? What should happen with the beneficiaries on your life insurance? What should you do about your will? What should you do about Car Insurance and credit cards and joint bank accounts. If you’ve ever had any questions about what you should do as a person who is getting divorced or has gotten divorced as it relates to your financial future and legal documents to make sure that you are separate from that person that you divorced forever.

This podcast will answer a lot of those questions, so listen in.

Welcome to another episode of Best of Johnston County, brought to you by Breeden Law Office. Our host, Jonathan Breeden, an experienced family lawyer with a deep connection to the [00:01:00] community, is ready to take you on a journey through the area that he has called home for over 20 years. Whether it’s a deep dive into the love locals have for the county or unraveling the complexities of family law, Best of Johnston County presents an authentic slice of this unique community.

Jonathan Breeden: Hello and welcome to another edition of The Best Of Johnston County Podcast. I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden, and on today’s episode, we’re having a special edition episode that we like to call Ask Jonathan Breeden Anything. And in this episode, our social media coordinator, Raena Burch, is gonna ask me, Jonathan Breeden about life after divorce.

We’re gonna talk a little bit about documents you should make your, you should change things that the divorce does not automatically change. And for you to recognize if you’re going through a divorce, that the divorce is a beginning. Not an end. And normally on this podcast, I, Jonathan Breeden interview, interesting community members local politicians, community leaders, small business owners about what they love about [00:02:00] Johnston County and the services they provide.

And every once in a while we do one of these special edition episodes where I answer common family law questions because that’s what we do here at the Breeden Law Office and have done that for over 25 years. You ready, Raena??

Raena Burch: I am ready. Are you ready? I’m

Jonathan Breeden: ready, but I gotta make sure I remind everybody to like follow and subscribe to this podcast wherever you’re seeing it, whether it be on Apple, YouTube, Spotify, TikTok, LinkedIn, or any of the other social media channels of The Best of Johnston County podcast.

Best John County Podcast comes out every single Monday and has now for almost two years. So go back and listen to some of our previous episodes. A lot of great people in Johnston County been on lot, a lot, a lot of great episodes coming up in the future. If you love Johnston County as much as I do, this is the podcast for you.

And more people subscribe. The more it tells the platforms that this is good content and promotes our podcast, some more people become aware of it.

Raena Burch: Yes. Good reminder. Excellent reminder. That’s a good reminder. Right?

Jonathan Breeden: No doubt. Alright. Alright.

Raena Burch: So first question that everybody always asks, right after divorce, like what legal documents do people need to [00:03:00] update once they’re divorced?

Jonathan Breeden: I think that they should really think about it as a brand new beginning, as I just said. And they should think about every legal document that they would’ve put in place and just about. All of them need to be changed. I mean really to be honest. So the first one I would say would be your will. If you don’t have a will get a will.

Raena Burch: Get one.

Jonathan Breeden: Most Americans do not have a will. But if you don’t have a will, you need to get a will and you need to make say in that will who you want to have your personal property, your real property, intangibles. You know?

Raena Burch: Yep.

Jonathan Breeden: Grandma’s clock, whatever you want. Like make sure you got a will. So everybody knows what you want to see happen with whatever you have. And you don’t want to die without a will, then all the stuff gets divided through intestacy. We may do a podcast on that another day, and as I always say about intestacy is it’s not what you think it is.

Raena Burch: Yes. And, and that’s what people don’t realize, like family law, everybody thinks divorce, [00:04:00] but

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

Raena Burch: It’s also wills and estates and, and all of that.

Jonathan Breeden: Right, right. Life insurance policies,

Raena Burch: yes

Jonathan Breeden: you need to update the beneficiary on any life insurance policy. And if it has been your ex-spouse, change it to somebody else.

Change it to your children, change it to your estate. Change it to NC State University. I love the Wolf Pack, but do not leave it on the ex-spouse because I get that call at least once every six to 12 months.

Raena Burch: I believe it.

Jonathan Breeden: Where new wife calls me and says husband has died.

Raena Burch: Oh no.

Jonathan Breeden: And there was a million dollar life insurance policy.

That is still listing ex-wife from 15, 20 years ago as the beneficiary, and there’s not anything I could do about that

Raena Burch: because those override a will. Right. They do the life. Whoever, whoever’s beneficiary in the life insurance [00:05:00] is, that’s who it’s,

Jonathan Breeden: and that is a

Raena Burch: no matter what the will says.

Jonathan Breeden: And that is a really bad phone call to have with somebody because you and you can’t give ’em

Raena Burch: any good news,

Jonathan Breeden: right?

It’s not good news and it’s truly unfortunate. So go change the beneficiaries on your life insurance and you bought life insurance. You get it through work, or there’s a debt benefit through work or whatever. Change the beneficiary. You should be reviewing those beneficiaries every four to five years anyway.

But definitely change it from the ex-spouse. Unless you have something in your custody order or in your divorce that says yes, you have to maintain a life insurance policy and the ex spouse is the beneficiary until the youngest child graduates from high school to make up for the child support that you would no longer be paying because you would be dead.

Yes. But that is very rare. I see that in probably. 0.1% of the custody and divorce cases. I do.

Raena Burch: I have that in my,

Jonathan Breeden: so you have it in yours. Okay. So yeah. So, but it, that is a very rare thing. Yeah. If you have that, then you have to do it. If not, change the beneficiaries. Of your life insurance [00:06:00] will life insurance.

I would then change the beneficiaries on your stock accounts.

Raena Burch: Oh,

Jonathan Breeden: your 4 0 1 Ks, your IRAs any Edward Jones, stock trade, fidelity accounts, any of that. Those beneficiaries are outside the will, they have their own separate payable on death policies. Yeah. And they need to be changed as well. Because you know, you’ve probably already divided up those assets in the divorce.

Mm-hmm. You’ve gotta keep half. The last thing you want to do is pass away and give the other half to the spot side that you just had to give half to. Yeah. Right. I mean, if you want ’em to have it, you want a divorce to start with. So, but I would say that, that, that’s important. As well. Bank accounts,

Raena Burch: oh yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Go and get out of all joint bank accounts.

Raena Burch: Mm-hmm.

Jonathan Breeden: You don’t want a part, any part of a joint bank account because any money in a joint bank account belongs to both owners. So if your direct deposit is still going into the joint account, that other person can go take. [00:07:00] The ex-spouse could go take your paycheck out and move it to a separate account because money going into a joint account belongs to both, both of you as well.

And as do the overaw fees.

Raena Burch: Mm-hmm.

Jonathan Breeden: If somebody were to overaw that account Oh, and that affects your credit. Yes. Even though you may have forgotten that you had a joint account. Yep. So you need to run a credit report mm-hmm. And make sure you know where all things that your name is attached to are.

Raena Burch: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Credit cards.

Raena Burch: That was good.

Jonathan Breeden: Get, get, get all, get any joint credit cards. Get rid of those. Close ’em out. Pay ’em off, whatever. Now, if you’re an authorized user, then it’s not gonna affect your credit if they don’t pay the credit card. Yeah. But if somebody is an authorized user,

Raena Burch: get ’em off your account.

Jonathan Breeden: Get, get that off your account.

Right. You don’t want ’em to be able to run up your credit card, whatever. So you wanna make sure that your credit cards are only in your name. Car insurance. You want to go get your own separate car insurance. I wouldn’t do that right. At separation, but definitely by the time you divorce, nor can I can’t [00:08:00] divorce.

That’s Yeah. For, for more than a year. Go get your own car insurance. You don’t be responsible for any accidents or anything that somebody else may have. You don’t know who’s driving those cars that you’re insuring.

Raena Burch: Yep.

Jonathan Breeden: Now that you were divorced, could be somebody that’s not the best. Maybe they don’t have a driver’s license.

Yeah. You don’t have any control over that, right? Yeah. You don’t know. Yeah. So go get your own. Car insurance cell phone plans. Again, anything that is joint or was joint needs to be separated. And like I said, I’m not saying do all of this to 1, 2, 3 weeks after you separate, but by the time we get to the divorce and the property is settled and it’s been over a year, yes.

All of this stuff needs to be separate.

Raena Burch: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: If you did not address the house and the divorce. I hope you did. I hope so. Don’t make that mistake. Mm-hmm. We had, we had a whole podcast on that. We did an entire podcast, go back a few weeks where we talk about what happens to the divorce in the, what happens to the divorce, to the house in a divorce.

Yep. We won’t [00:09:00] repeat all of that here. But you do need to make sure that if you own a house with that person, that in the divorce or prior to the divorce. That the property case is pending, or you dealt with the property via a separation agreement or equitable distribution consent order. And what’s gonna happen to the house where it is gonna end up either being sold or it’s gonna be one side.

It’s gonna be one spouses or the other spouses. And the spouses get it, is gonna refinance it and in their name, and if they can’t refinance it, they’re gonna sell it or something to get that house because here’s the thing. You don’t want, and we’re kind of elongating this. But if you start with the, there should be nothing joint anymore at the date of divorce.

Raena Burch: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: At all, like you need to be completely separate individuals as if you never got married because once you divorce, if you didn’t do a property settlement and you didn’t do a separation agreement, and most people do, but not everybody.

Raena Burch: Yep.

Jonathan Breeden: The court loses the jurisdiction to go back and divide up the marital property. It [00:10:00] loses the jurisdiction to split the 401k allocate who’s gonna get the proceeds from the house. All of that goes away if you’re divorced and you didn’t already settle it.

Raena Burch: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: And like I said in that previous episode at least once a week, if not once every other week, we are getting a call here at the Breeden office where. They’re saying we did an uncontested divorce ourselves 5, 10, 15 years ago.

We never dealt with the house. Yep. And now I want to sell it. And the other side says I owe them half the equity currently that’s in the house. And that is true because the other side is still a joint owner, even though. They didn’t pay one dime on that mortgage in the last 10 or 15 years.

They’re not responsible for any of the passive or active increase in its value.

Raena Burch: Yep.

Jonathan Breeden: But yet they’re still entitled because they’re still on the house. So back to my thing, if you think, what do we have that both names are cars? Same way. Need to get the car in your name. If, if the car [00:11:00] you’re driving is titled in your ex-husband’s name, he needs to sign it over to you.

Or you need to give him that car and go buy another car. Yeah. You don’t wanna be driving a car that’s not titled in your name

Raena Burch: because Yeah, I’ve, I’ve heard cases where they’ll call and say it’s been stolen. And it, ’cause it’s

Jonathan Breeden: correct,

Raena Burch: your name’s not on it and

Jonathan Breeden: Right

Raena Burch: whatcha gonna do.

Jonathan Breeden: We, we’ve had that happen and Yep.

Believe me, I’ve had many police officers call me and say, I’m with your client, Jane Doe. Mm-hmm. And she says that she’s been driving this car. What do you know about him? I’m like, yes, officer. We’re trying to deal with the, the divorce. She does have permission to drive the car. No court saying she doesn’t and all of that.

But yes, cars. Same way. So that’s the thing. And, and I think a lot of people, they like the idea of being divorced, but they don’t like this. Like, like when we tell ’em this, it, we, we often will get, it’s pushed,

Raena Burch: it’s a lot of work.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. It’s a lot of work. And we’ll get pushback and I’m like, you’re divorcing this person.

Yeah. Right. Like, like you don’t wanna be connected to them anymore. Yeah. And, and really what it [00:12:00] often comes down to is. There are things that one spouse, often the husband is paying for the wife, that the wife is now gonna have to pick up that payment when it gets in her own name and she doesn’t wanna pick up that payment.

But the husband is making that payment to help the wife and to protect his credit.

Raena Burch: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: But now, you know, a year into this when we’re getting divorced, year, year and a half later. You gotta get the stuff in your own name. You gotta figure it out. You’re right. You need to start making your own house payment.

You need to start making your own car payment. CRP. Start paying your own car insurance. You know, like you’re divorced. Like if you need money, you should have gone and dealt, had a posts separation support hearing or an alimony hearing something. Yeah. Get child support to help pay for this stuff.

Raena Burch: You have a year,

Jonathan Breeden: right? I mean, right. There’s a year before we get to the north itself In North Carolina. Right? Like at least a year. Yeah. And so you need to be thinking about all that. Yeah. But there’s a lot of times where. Where, where they don’t wanna do it and, and you. And then the other thing is, yeah, and I should have said this from the beginning.

You gotta make a budget, right? The number one thing you’re gonna do, [00:13:00] the first time you even, this is we’re talking about divorce. I’m talking about the first time it crosses your mind that this marriage might not work out. You need to make a budget. You need to make a budget for where you are, and you need to go make a budget for where you might be going.

Raena Burch: Yeah. And that needs to be an ongoing process through the separation. Into the divorce and it needs to be a realistic budget. Not some pie in the sky budget, but an a budget you can actually afford without going to credit cards. And I know your lifestyle may change a little bit and you may not be able to eat out as much.

Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: And maybe you need a car that’s not quite as expensive. But, and maybe you have to move into house that maybe is a little smaller or an apartment or something like that. But budgeting is crucial.

Raena Burch: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Absolutely crucial in this process. And getting stuff in your own name so that you can pay it because the other thing that you run into here is if your credit’s not good. You need to get your credit fixed.

Raena Burch: Yep.

Jonathan Breeden: Because it’s gonna be really hard to go set up your own stuff, your own credit cards. If your credit’s not [00:14:00] good. So one of the things you need to be doing, if when you start thinking about separation or through the separation, headed towards the divorce is how can I fix my credit?

Raena Burch: Yep.

Jonathan Breeden: Talk to a credit counselor, debt, that kind of stuff. Debt relief agencies. Yeah. Stuff like that. Maybe you need to file for bankruptcy. I don’t know. I’m not a bankruptcy lawyer. But these things are very important as well.

Raena Burch: Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

Have family law questions? Need guidance to navigate legal challenges? The compassionate team at Breeden Law Office is here to help. Visit us at www. breedenfirm. com for practical advice, resources, or to book a consultation. Remember, when life gets messy, you don’t have to face it alone.

Raena Burch: And so to touch on that, because I know this is obviously more of just a, mainly a woman’s issue, but when we say updating legal documents, obviously some women have, most women have to decide, do I go back to my maiden name, do I keep my married name?

And so what [00:15:00] are the steps you suggest they take if they wanna go back to their maiden name. ’cause I know that’s also even more paperwork than everything else, and it can be made even more difficult if they don’t have it like in their decree or whatnot.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. Well. In in North Carolina.

Raena Burch: Mm-hmm.

Jonathan Breeden: A woman going through a divorce can go back to any previous married name or their mar maiden name.

Raena Burch: Oh.

Jonathan Breeden: A lot of people don’t realize that.

Raena Burch: I did not realize that.

Jonathan Breeden: It’s not right. You can go back to your maiden name or any previous married name. Got it. And oftentimes we will see people go back to a previous married name so that their last name and the children’s last name are the same. So that people are like, why would you do that?

Well, you want your, your last name, you,

Raena Burch: I don’t wanna have to show my ID every time I pick up my kid.

Jonathan Breeden: Right, right. You the last name’s to sort of match. Right. But the easiest way to do it is to the name change in the divorce decree. Okay. And certified copy of the divorce decree signed by the judge to.

I believe you take the Social Security first. Yes. And Social Security security [00:16:00] card with the same social security number, and then you take your Social Security card and you go to the Department of Motor of Vehicles.

Raena Burch: Yep. You get a license

Jonathan Breeden: and you change your driver’s license understanding of, of how that works.

If you don’t get into the divorce decree, you could still do it. Social Security Administration has some paperwork that I believe you can fill out. Yeah. I think it’s a little more complicated. I think it takes a little bit more time. Yeah. Unfortunately, I am not a name change expert. Yeah. But, but I would advise you if you want to change your name.

That you go and you get it in your divorce decree. Yeah. But you have to tell your attorney that that’s what you wanna do before you file it, because they have to ask for it in the divorce complaint as well. Because I wanna be divorced and I want my name back. And the clerk of court is gonna charge you an extra 10 or $15 filing fee for the name change Yeah.

That the attorney has to pay when they file it so you can’t come back. Six.

Raena Burch: You can’t, you can’t be retroactive about it.

Jonathan Breeden: Right? Right. You can’t come back, you know, the day before we go to divorce court and we’re get you divorce there and say, oh, can we change my name now? [00:17:00] No, you gotta do it as soon as you meet with the attorney or when you go if you, if you’re doing it yourself.

Most divorces, most actual divorces are done without attorneys. You need to make sure you put it in there on the standard form and pay the extra $10 to the clerk and then make sure you include the name change. Your divorce decree. Yes. That’s very important.

Raena Burch: Yes. And, and I think a lot of that is so, you know, and we all know well, I mean as women married, women know this when you go into.

You know, get a new ID or whatever and you have to, or vote or whatnot. Like in some states, you have to show the progress of your name, how it changed, when it changed. So birth certificate, marriage license, and then if that divorce decree is going back and you know, so like if you have multiple name changes, you have to show a paper trail usually in order to prove that. So the divorce decree helps.

Jonathan Breeden: It does a lot. It does put in divorce decree. Is by far the best way to do it. Yes. But it is not the only way to do it.

Raena Burch: [00:18:00] Yes, yes.

Jonathan Breeden: All right. You would just need the divorce decree. Take it anyway. Yeah, yeah. Down the road. Exactly. Okay.

Raena Burch: All right, so question number two. So custody and like support modifications, what kind of changes and circumstances might justify going back to court to modify child support orders or custody orders. And this is, you know, like you said, it takes a year to get divorced in North Carolina and that usually happen, there’s usually a temporary custody order, and then by the end of that there’s a permanent custody order. Maybe after that, like down the road, what would justify a change in child support, or a change in custody?

Jonathan Breeden: All right, so we’re assuming in this question that you have an order signed by judge.

Raena Burch: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Right, ’cause every time we do these episodes, I’m like, do you have an order signed by a judge or not? But yeah. Okay. Now if you have a temporary custody order, it warps into a permanent custody order after one year if nobody’s attempted to have it reviewed.

Raena Burch: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Temporary child support, sort of the same way. If nobody’s attempted to have it reviewed, it kind of becomes a permanent child support order if you have a temporary child support order and a temporary custody order, and it hasn’t been a year [00:19:00] or you’ve been trying to get it reviewed.

Those can be modified without any substantial change of circumstances. They are temporary, they are non-appealable, and they could be changed by the judge. For however, however, the judge wants to change ’em, right? If you have a permanent child support order to modify permanent child support order, there has to be three years between the order and the time you’re asking for the change, or there has to be a substantial change, which is defined by the amount of child support owed. Going up or down 15%.

Raena Burch: Mm-hmm.

Jonathan Breeden: Based on the current order, not the amount of money the dad makes, not the amount of money the mom makes, it’s the, the actual total child support, child support amount. Yep. In the formula when you consider health insurance, daycare cost gross income. Extraordinary expenses. Yeah.

All the things that went into the original child support worksheet. If all the, if the current numbers change and the number at the bottom goes up or down 15%, you [00:20:00] could modify a child support order within the three years. Most often somebody loses their job. Yep. Is, is the most common way to do it. A lot of people think when the child goes from full-time daycare.

To school that’s gonna work. But what they don’t realize is before school and after school care cost almost what full-time daycare costs. And it ends up not actually being a 15% change. Yep. On the bottom of the sheet, we see that all the time.

Raena Burch: Mm-hmm.

Jonathan Breeden: For custody, if you have a permanent custody order, in order to modify a permanent custody order, you have to be able to show a substantial change in circumstances that affects the welfare of the minor child.

Mm-hmm. Now not. If I’m mom and I didn’t have a lot of visitation ’cause I was strung out on drugs or alcohol and now I’m clean, that’s not enough. It’s gotta affect the child. Yeah, right. So a lot of times you see relocations, one parent is going to leave the area making a joint physical custody situation.

Impossible. Almost impossible. Yeah. You know, stuff like that. Maybe one parent has gotten into trouble. [00:21:00] DWI, drugs, alcohol. That could be a substantial change. One parent has decided to date or live with a registered sex offender. I cannot tell you how many of those cases I’ve had. I know you’re like, you cannot believe this, but I’m telling you it is way more than I can even count.

Raena Burch: Oh, yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: And it’s like, what are you thinking? Right? But they’re not thinking. They’re thinking they’re in love with this person. You know, they don’t care that they’re a sex offender, right? So, you know, it’s gotta be substantial change. And, and, and it could be that maybe somebody’s work schedule has made it where they can’t get the child to and from school.

And if you can’t get the child to and from school, that’s gonna be a substantial change. But it has to be more than you don’t like his new girlfriend. You don’t like the new boyfriend. You, you know, y’all don’t, yeah. Y’all disagree on everything to be disagreeable. It’s gotta be something for permanent change.

It’s gotta be something substantial. And we’ve done some podcasts on that. Listen, some of those, we got some YouTube videos on it. So, but keep that in mind. But it, [00:22:00] it is more than just. It’s you got, you got a burden of proof. Yes. In temporary situations, review of temporary and in temporary hearing for child support and custody, there is no burden of proof.

The court is just gonna do the best it can based on the findings of fact. Yeah. Once you’re trying to modify something, you then have the burden of proof to show that it is substantially changed. So the court now has the authority to change it. ’cause if you can show a substantial change, the court does not have the authority to change its prior order.

Raena Burch: Got it. And you mentioned this for child support, but that also, I wanna know if it applies to custody. When you said, you know, a job loss obviously significant, can significantly impact child support, could that also significantly impact custody?

Jonathan Breeden: It can, if the person. You know, loses their housing or they have to leave the area for housing.

Raena Burch: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: Or they have to leave the area for a new job. That’s often what happens.

Raena Burch: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: They lose their job here and the job they find is somewhere else.

Raena Burch: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: So that can have some effect. The work schedule changing, you know, [00:23:00] like these daycares, they don’t open at 6:00 AM right? But a lot of people are, be at work today. We got a lot of shift work here in Johnston County, right?

Raena Burch: Yes. Yep.

Jonathan Breeden: Novo Nordisk, Grifols, like we got a ton of biopharmaceuticals, we got a lot of manufacturing caterpillar, right? You know, sometimes those people have to be at work before daycare is open. So how’s the kid gonna get to school? Who’s gonna supervise ’em in the morning?

Who’s gonna be there when they get home in the afternoon? You know, where the afterschool care at the school ends at 5. The shift doesn’t end at 7:00 PM What are we gonna do in the interim? So all of that stuff can ultimately affect custody as well. If you have a job situation. Hopefully you don’t, but if it does, but that sometimes can cause a change in circumstances.

Raena Burch: Yes. Okay. And kind of back to the first question, but also now to the, like, it kind of ties into the second, so what if, ’cause you talked about like filing for bankruptcy and credit card debt and all of that. Like what if that happens after the divorce? Right? Because maybe they didn’t budget correctly.

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

Raena Burch: And then now they’re. You know, in credit card debt and whatnot, does that affect it? Or as long as they’re being, as long as they’re [00:24:00] providing for the kids.

Jonathan Breeden: I don’t think bankruptcy affects a custody case. But I can tell you that if you have any joint debts. That you didn’t resolve prior to the divorce that are still out there and you’ve not gotten ’em separated if somebody files for bankruptcy, the person not filing for bankruptcy is then responsible for those debts.

Raena Burch: Okay.

Jonathan Breeden: And so it only discharges one and all those creditors are gonna come after the other person that didn’t file for bankruptcy. So if you’re gonna file for bankruptcy as part of the divorce, file it together. Prior to the divorce, if possible.

Raena Burch: Oh, okay.

Jonathan Breeden: I think that is very important. I’m not a bankruptcy attorney, but that, back to the word title earlier, these joint debts, one side goes and files for bankruptcy. The creditors are gonna come after.

Raena Burch: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: The other person. You know, and so that becomes important as well.

Raena Burch: Do they as assume they’re the ones that they, I mean, if they’re not filing for bankruptcy, they must have money, so

Jonathan Breeden: Right, right, right. And the creditors are gonna wanna get their money.

Raena Burch: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: So, so that becomes very important too.

Yes. Another reason why you need to get is financially [00:25:00] separate. As quickly as possible. Yeah. So that you’re not affected by any financial decisions that the other spouse makes after you divorce?

Raena Burch: Yes. And as long as, like you said, it doesn’t affect housing, it doesn’t affect anything else, it probably won’t affect custody.

Jonathan Breeden: Correct. It, it almost certainly is not gonna affect custody because it doesn’t have, because the kids’ provided for there Right. The kids are being provided for. Yeah. You know, and it actually, bankruptcy often helps because, you know, you end up with more disposable income.

Raena Burch: Mm-hmm.

Jonathan Breeden: Because maybe you’ve gotten rid of some debts that you were paying on that you’re no longer paying on.

Maybe you can. You know, get out, get outta some of that stuff. Yeah. I, like I said, I’m not a bankruptcy attorney. Start rebuilding your credit. Right, right. But I do think if you’ve gotten in the situation where you know you’re gonna file for bankruptcy, it’s not from some medical bills that popped up ’cause you had an accident, you probably do need to look at some credit counseling and stuff so you can learn a little bit more about budgeting and stuff like that.

Mm-hmm. But, but it’s key. And also, you know, often in marriage is. One person does all the finances and one person doesn’t. Yeah. And if you’re the one that doesn’t and you don’t understand the finances, you need to understand it. But you [00:26:00] also need to understand the finance for yourself. Like, you know, that becomes very important too, where you gotta pay your own bills, make your own budget, get some help, ask your friends.

Talk to a local Edward Jones agent. I mean, your attorneys can help to some level. There are certified divorce. Financial planners out there.

Raena Burch: Yes, yes.

Jonathan Breeden: There’s tons of those people go talk to one of them. They’ll be glad to help you.

Raena Burch: Yeah. And doesn’t, I know, I thought you talked previously on an episode about, you know, places like Harbor House who offer free classes as far as like financial budgeting and whatnot.

Jonathan Breeden: I think they do. I think Harbor House as part of some of their domestic violence classes would. Some,

Raena Burch: because a lot of those women are people,

Jonathan Breeden: people with some basic finances as well.

Raena Burch: People don’t have any control over the finances and have no idea what’s going on.

Jonathan Breeden: Right, right. So it’s very important. So yeah. What I want y’all to take from this episode is you need to get. Completely separate by the time you’re getting divorced, maybe not in the first three weeks, get completely separate. Run a credit report, see what’s out there. Make sure everything’s separate, separate bank accounts, separate everything as if you never knew the person you divorced.

That’s gonna be crucial. And [00:27:00] then you’ll only have to be responsible for what decisions you make and they can’t make a decision. That affects you moving forward. We would like to thank Raena Burch coming on and being our asking me these questions on this special edition episode of The Best Of Johnston County Podcast.

Ask Jonathan Breeden anything where we talked about what you should do about financial documents and stuff once you are divorced. If you have any questions about what you heard on this podcast about what you should be doing while you’re in a divorce or thinking about a divorce, reach out to us here at the Breeden Law Office at 9 1 9 6 6 1 4 9 7 0 or or reach out to us at Breeden Firm.

We’ll be glad to sit down and talk to you about your specific situation and advise you on what you can and cannot do moving forward. As we mentioned earlier, please like, follow, subscribe to this podcast wherever you see it. Give us a five star view down below. Share it. If your in your social media, tag us in your Instagram stories.

Best Of Johnston County. That way more and more people know about The Best Of Johnston County Podcast. We enjoy bringing it to you and we’re gonna continue doing it, and we want as [00:28:00] many people to know about it as possible. Until next time, I’m your host, Jonathan Breeden.

That’s the end of today’s episode of Best of Johnston County, a show brought to you by the trusted team at Breeden Law Office. We thank you for joining us today and we look forward to sharing more interesting facets of this community next week. Every story, every viewpoint adds another thread to the rich tapestry of Johnston County.

If the legal aspects highlighted raised some questions, help is just around the corner at www. breedenfirm. com.