Although we all probably know that divorce hits women harder than men with tons of anecdotal evidence, but there are statistics to prove it and they don’t look good at all.

According to Long Island University’s National Center for Women & Retirement Research, the average woman sees a 45 per cent drop in her standard of living after divorce, while the average man improves his standard of living by 15 per cent.

The financial drain of the home and children tend to fall on women’s shoulders, while men suddenly have more dollars in the bank. While this is certainly a stereotypical snapshot, the reality is that a lot of people do fit into such a cliché.

“Even the most professionally savvy women often make disastrous, irreversible mistakes in a divorce,” explains Certified Financial Planner Faith Xenos, co-founder and partner of Singer Xenos, one of South Florida’s largest independent wealth management firms. “When it comes to divorce, women need to get their heads out of the clouds and take the steps to protect themselves from falling into financial crises.”

Consider three common-sense rules to your divorce:

Don’t go to court. Litigating your divorce case will never bring a better monetary outcome than a 50-50 division of assets. Most long-term marriages will usually end up with this result anyway so think again if you are out to take him to the cleaners.

Don’t go after everything. Not everyone should take Ivana Trump’s advice who famously said, “Don’t get mad, get everything.” Know that not all assets are valuable to you because on paper they could be worth a lot but you can’t liquidize them at the end of the day — so that doesn’t look so useful in everyday life, eh? If you’re not financially-savvy, hire an accountant to look through everything you’ve got in the books before you sign anything.

Dig deep. You can start your detective work on your tax returns but consider the fact that your husband may have other assets like stock options with his company. Such assets don’t reflect in tax returns. There is no easy way to be a sleuth but you could keep an eye on incoming mail that has unfamiliar bank or brokerage statements.

Related posts:

1. Post-grad women are more likely to divorce than men
2. Alimony: A thorny part of divorce Part 2 – Factors that determine alimony
3. Take control of your finances

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