(0:00 – 0:20)
Hi everyone, I’m Dr. Michael Mantell, always privileged to be joining Bonnie Rabinovitch-Mantel, owner and managing partner of the esteemed Primus Family Law Group here in San Diego, California. Hi Bonnie. Michael, how are you doing today? Doing great, lovely weather, beautiful day.
(0:21 – 0:25)
We can’t ask for more. We are blessed. We are blessed.
(0:25 – 1:07)
So Bonnie, today I wanna talk about financial uncertainty that people face in a divorce. It often brings tremendous financial upheaval and anxiety and concern. What are some of the biggest financial surprises that people face going through a divorce? You know, it often surprises me that people forget that when you’re living together and you’re living with two incomes and all of a sudden you’re breaking apart and those two incomes or perhaps one income in the house is now being divided.
(1:08 – 1:29)
A lot of people are realizing they can’t afford to buy a home. I mean, right now, you know, a lot of people who own a home, they bought it when interest rates were 2 1⁄2, 3%, 3 1⁄2. Now you’re going through a divorce, you have to sell the home or you don’t want the other to buy out or you can’t buy the other person out.
(1:29 – 1:41)
And if you wanna buy a home, you’re looking at 7%. You know, that’s a financial reality today. The same way you have one income, Michael, and now we’ve got two households.
(1:41 – 2:25)
You know, we talk about support, but where does that support come from? It comes from that same pot of income and people have a hard time managing when they’re supposed to provide the same sort of lifestyle to their children. Are there common mistakes that you see people divorcing here in San Diego when they are dividing their assets? A lot of people think that you can, for example, oh, I wanna keep my retirement and I’ll give her, let’s say, the house. That is problematic because some retirements are like a pension and that can be a lifetime benefit.
(2:25 – 3:01)
And we don’t know what mental health or physical health we’re gonna be in later on in life. And we may rely on that monthly benefit, you know? And the house, when you sell it, sometimes if it’s not your primary residence, you know, that can lead to capital gains issues. So simply dividing things because they look like the same amount is not always the best option when you take into account current financial tax implications, as well as what the market’s doing.
(3:02 – 3:47)
So people have concern and anxiety about the uncertainty that they’re gonna face regarding their finances going through divorce and how they can protect their own assets and so forth. How can they reach you for some really helpful information? Well, they can reach us directly at 619-574-8000 and you will be put on one of our amazing attorney’s calendars for a free 30-minute telephone or Zoom consultation. Or you can reach us online at www.PrimusFamilyLaw.com. We even have a live chat agent that can help you at all hours regarding getting in contact with us and getting on my calendar.