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Divorce changes your standard of living

On Behalf of | Sep 8, 2022 | Divorce

It’s inevitable that getting divorced is going to impact your standard of living. It’s not just the expenses that go along with the divorce itself, but life can become more expensive in the months and years following that divorce.

For example, you and your spouse shared your living situation prior to the divorce, so you had one mortgage payment. After the divorce, you will both have your own mortgage payment or monthly rent, simply making life more expensive overall.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t get divorced for financial reasons, of course. It’s just that you need to consider the finances carefully when you are splitting up. This is one reason why it’s so important to get the assets that you truly deserve, and it’s a good reason to create a post-divorce budget.

Your gender may play a role

Interestingly, some studies have discovered that gender plays a very large role in what happens to your standard of living after divorce. For men, the general standard of living declined by 21% in one study. For women, it declined by a staggering 45%. You can see this by examining a ratio of needs compared to income.

There are many different reasons for this. Men tend to earn more than women for the same work, for instance, so there is already inequality in pay. The duties relating to children may also tend to fall on women more often, though courts do prefer shared parenting solutions.

In an opposite-sex marriage, both people need to understand exactly what the divorce will do to their finances and how they can adjust their life to match. The financial side of the divorce is very important, so be sure you understand what legal options you have.

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