Collaborative Team Practice

A Financial Divorce Specialist is a financial professional that holds the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation and has completed specialized training in Financial Divorce Planning and the Collaborative process.

As Financial Divorce Specialists, Glenda Baker and Sheila Munch of Durham Financial in Oshawa offer valuable services to couples going through divorce, their lawyers or other Financial Planners.

We are often retained as “neutral experts” on collaborative teams. Our role is to provide information, and not advice, which is very different from our roles as Financial Planners. Our goal is to help clients achieve the most acceptable financial outcome for the family by focusing on needs, interests, and values.

We offer the following support for lawyers and clients:

• Assist both spouses in gathering the documents required for financial disclosure
• Provide a financial analysis of the couple’s assets, liabilities, incomes, child and spousal support payments, taking into consideration inflation and changing tax consequences
• Help clients complete FORM 13 financial statements and other Ontario Family Law financial documents
• Help each spouse establish and articulate their needs and hopes for their family’s future
• Provide insight with respect to pension plans and other investments and insurance options including ongoing protection
• Determine assets that may not be divided, such as an inheritance or gift
• Educate clients about the tax and other financial consequences of retaining or giving up certain assets
• Assist lawyers and/or mediators in designing a settlement proposal that will maximize clients’ satisfaction, considering the available financial options
• Counsel clients on developing realistic budgets for themselves for the future. For most people this is a very emotional task, as they realize life isn’t going to be as it once was, and that lifestyle adjustments are required. This part of the process typically evolves throughout future meetings when clients see the long-term ramifications of their choices
• Provide clients and lawyers with data showing the short-term and long-term financial impact of a proposed divorce settlement
• Offer insight into the pros and cons of different settlement proposals

We provide valuable insight and can help the separating couple and their lawyers avoid the common financial pitfalls of divorce.