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Hello Divorce

WORKSHEET

THE

2

You are starting your divorce and from where you stand the road looks long and

likely a bit uncertain. This worksheet will help you create a plan for the road ahead

by organizing and considering the issues you may need to address and resolve in

order to nalize your divorce.

Essential Info

This general information will need to be considered as you work with your spouse to

resolve all of the issues below.

When did you and your spouse get married?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

List you and your spouse’s income from all sources. If you are a W-2 employee, this

answer may be simple. If one parent is self-employed or earns income from other

sources, it may be a bit more complicated.

You:

__________________________________________________________________________

Your spouse:

__________________________________________________________________________

What proportion of your income is derived from earnings and investments, respectively?

You:

Earnings:

_______________________ Investments: _______________________

Your spouse:

Earnings:

_______________________ Investments: _______________________

Do you have children with your spouse?

 No (Skip to Issue #3)

 Yes

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3

Issue #1: Child Custody and Visitation

 Sole legal custody

 Joint legal custody

Will you be requesting sole physical custody or joint physical custody (meaning

signicant periods of time with both parents)?

 Sole legal custody

 Joint legal custody

Are you and your spouse able to work together to make decisions?

 No

 Yes

Are there tools that might help you become better at communicating or making

decisions?

 No

 Yes

 I don't know

Are there issues about the other parent that would justify a request for sole legal

custody? (Need more information about what might warrant such an award of custody?

Hello Divorce oers legal services to help you!)

 No

 Yes

 I don't know

Do you and your spouse parent well with each other?

 No

 Yes

Does it make sense to have a more specic schedule detailed in an enforceable

order or would you prefer more exibility? (If you and your spouse do not parent well

together, a specic schedule detailed in an enforceable order will save time and energy

in the long run.)

 Specic schedule detailed in an enforceable order

 Flexible arrangement

There are two types of custody – legal and physical. Physical custody and visitation

refer to where the children will live. Legal custody addresses who will have the

authority to make decisions regarding the education, health and welfare of

your child(ren).

CLICK HERE for everything you need to know about kids & divorce.

Will you be requesting joint or sole legal custody?

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4

How old are your children?

(The age of the children will inuence how long they may (or may not) be able to

go without seeing the other parent. As children get older, parents often prefer

longer stretches of time with the child (such as an alternating week schedule) but

for young children sometimes a schedule that alternates every couple of days or

provides the non custodial parent with a dinner visit and alternating weekends

works better.)

Children and their ages:

____________________________________________________________

Have you historically been the primary caretaker for your children? (For example, did

you take them to the doctor or dentist; parent/teacher conferences; soccer etc.)

 No

 Yes

Do you or your spouse have another child (or other children) that your child(ren)

have a relationship with?

 No

 Yes

Does your child have any special needs that would impact the schedule?

(For example, maybe transitions are particularly dicult, perhaps one home is closer to

the tutor the child sees two days a week, or maybe he plays baseball on a traveling team

and is gone with the team (and Dad) most weekends.)

Notes:

____________________________________________________________

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5

Do the child or children have a preference on living/visiting arrangements?

 No

 Yes:

Which parent?

_____________________________________

Do both you and your spouse live within a reasonable distance of school and extra-

curricular activities? (If not, a schedule that minimizes commutes and concentrates

time might be preferable.)

 No

 Yes

Do both you and your spouse work? If so, do you both have a regular schedule?

Is there a way to capitalize on one parent’s availability when the other parent is

at work? (For example, if one parent works weekends and the other doesn’t,

it might work well to craft a visitation schedule that assigns weekends to the

non-weekend-working parent and weekdays to the other.)

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Is one household more stable than the other?

 No

 Yes:

Which household?

_________________________________

Are both parents available to ensure participation in extracurricular activities?

 No

 Yes:

Which parent is available?

_________________________

What type of discipline is used at both households?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

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6

Holidays

You will also need to develop a schedule for sharing holidays. Some families assign

only big holidays (like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Spring Break). Other families

assign all the holidays from three day weekends to 4th of July to Halloween.

Note: You can nd a helpful list of many of the Holidays you might

want to consider on form FL-341(C)

In developing a holiday schedule you might want to consider:

Does one parent celebrate any special holidays with the child or children that the

other parent doesn’t?

 No

 Yes:

Which holidays with which parent?

With you:

____________________________________________________

With your spouse:

____________________________________________________

Are there any religious or holiday traditions that one parent observes that the

other doesn’t?

 No

 Yes:

Which traditions and which parent?

Traditions only you observe:

____________________________________________________

Traditions only your spouse observes:

____________________________________________________

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7

Are there any holidays or events that are really important to you? (Maybe you have

a huge Christmas Eve family event every year or maybe there is an annual camping

trip on Memorial Day weekend.)

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Issue #2: Child Support

Child support in California is determined using a state mandated calculator.

The amount of support awarded depends on:

• You and your spouse’s incomes (listed in Essential Info, above)

• Length of marriage (listed in Essential Info, above)

• Timesharing

• Other factors

In order to calculate guideline support, you will need to consider:

Timesharing: What percentage of time does each parent spend with the child(ren)?

You:

____________________________________________________________

Your spouse:

____________________________________________________________

Which parent pays for health insurance for the child or children and how much is it?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Which parent pays for child care for the child or children and how much is it? Is

there an agreement for how the cost will be shared?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

CLICK HERE for our convenient child support calculator

Need help? Legal advice? Hello Divorce can help make your process hassle free and affordable.

CLICK HERE for a Free Strategy Session.

8

Do either you or your spouse earn bonuses or other non-cash compensation like

stock options? If so, how much have they been in the past and when are they

usually received? Are the bonuses performance based? Have past bonuses been

consistent and regular or more sporadic?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Is there an agreement about how uninsured/uncovered health care costs and

extracurricular activity costs will be shared? What activities do the children

participate in and how much are they? Do any of the children have special medical

needs/expenses that aren’t covered?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

What will each parent’s tax ling status be? (You may need to talk to your tax

professional about this.)

Your tax ling status:

____________________________________________________________

Your spouse’s tax ling status:

____________________________________________________________

Which parent will be entitled to claim the child or children as dependents each year

for tax purposes? Will you each claim one child (if two children)? Will you alternate

years?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Does one parent need to seek work or go back to school for training? How long is

that expected to take and what is the plan?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

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9

Issue #3: Spousal Support

Do you or your spouse need help to maintain your lifestyle (referred to as the

marital standard of living by the Court)? If so, an award of spousal support may be

appropriate. Spousal support is tax deductible to the pay or and taxable as income

by the support recipient.

• You and your spouse’s incomes (listed in Essential Info, above)

• Length of marriage (listed in Essential Info, above)

• Standard of living

• Living expenses

• Other factors

Will you or your spouse be requesting spousal support?

 No

 Yes

Consider:

What was your lifestyle during the marriage? Consider the type of home you owned

or rented, cars you purchased, vacations you took (frequency and cost).

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Is either you or your spouse paying for any of the other’s living expenses?

 No

 Yes:

Who is paying for the other’s living expenses? ___________________

Are both you and your spouse working?

 Yes

 No:

Which one of you is not working?

_________________________

How long does the one of you not working anticipate they

will need to nd employment _____________________________

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10

Do either you or your spouse need additional education or training in order to

re-enter the workforce?

 No

 Yes:

Which of you?

_____________________________________

Did either you or your spouse take time from the workforce during the marriage to

take care of the home/family?

 No

 Yes:

Which of you?

_____________________________________

Did either you or your spouse earn their degree, certicate, or receive training for

their career during the marriage?

 No

 Yes:

Which of you?

_____________________________________

How much money will you each need to maintain their lifestyle?

You:

_______________________________________________________

Your spouse: ______________________________________________

How much longer do you and your spouse anticipate working?

You:

_______________________________________________________

Your spouse: ______________________________________________

Does either you or your spouse have any health issues that impair their ability

to work?

 No

 Yes:

Which of you?

_____________________________________

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11

Issue #4: Attorney and Mediator Fees

A judge may require that you or your spouse pay attorney fees and legal costs to

the other party. Even if you don’t end up having to go to court, you might need

the assistance of an attorney to help you with the process, prepare documents or

provide advice. The biggest factor here is whether or not one spouse has greater

access to money (from earnings, asset or credit) to pay for the attorney fees of

both parties.

Do you and your spouse have equal ability to pay? Do you both have equal access

to funds/loans/credit cards?

You:

_______________________________________________________

Your spouse: ______________________________________________

Is your spouse willing to negotiate and/or cooperate?

 Yes

 No:

Explain:

____________________________________________________

Are either you or your spouse frustrating the settlement process?

 No

 Yes:

Explain:

____________________________________________________

What are the living expenses and assets of both you and your spouse?

Your living expenses:

____________________________________________________________

Your spouse’s living expenses:

____________________________________________________________

Your assets:

____________________________________________________________

Your spouse’ assets:

____________________________________________________________

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12

Will either you or your spouse leave the marriage with signicantly more assets?

 No

 Yes:

Which party?

______________________________________

Issue #5: Assets and Debt Division

All the assets you and your spouse accumulated and all of the debts that accrued

during marriage are called community property. As part of your divorce, they will

need to be identied and divided. This section will help you think through the assets

and debts you may have and the information you will need to gather.

Do you have a prenuptial agreement or post-nuptial agreement? These agreements

may signicantly impact who property and debts are divided. If yes, state the main

terms of the agreement:

 No

 Yes:

State the main terms of the agreement:

__________________________________________________________

Do you own real property?

 No (Skip to Pensions, IRAs, Retirement, and Employee Benet Accounts Below)

 Yes:

Note: You will need to answer these questions for every piece of real

property you and your spouse own.

How is the property titled? (Whose name is on the grant deed?)

____________________________________________________________

When was the property acquired?

____________________________________________________________

How was the property acquired (inherited, purchased)?

____________________________________________________________

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13

Is the mortgage in one or both parties names?

____________________________________________________________

Has the property been renanced?

 No

 Yes

Where did the down payment come from?

 You or your spouse’s earnings during the marriage?

How much?

________________________________________

Source? ____________________________________________

 Gift from family member(s) or friend(s)?

To both parties or one party alone?

____________________________________________________

 Separate property down payment from either you or

your spouse alone?

How much? ________________________________________

Source? ____________________________________________

Have there been many improvements made to the property?

 No

 Yes:

How were they paid for?

____________________________________________________

Who made those improvements?

____________________________________________________

How much money was invested in those improvements?

____________________________________________________

Who has been making the mortgage payments?

____________________________________________________________

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14

Types of Accounts When Opened

Where have the mortgage payments been coming from?

 Payments made from a community account

What account? _____________________________________

 Either you or your spouse’s separate account

What account? _____________________________________

Does either party intend to continue living in the property?

 No

 Yes:

Can that party qualify to renance the property?

 No

 Yes

Will the property be sold?

 No

 Yes:

What, if anything, needs to be done to the property in

order to sell it?

____________________________________________________________

Who will be responsible for maintaining the property

(mortgage, HOA, taxes, repairs) until the divorce is nal?

____________________________________________________________

Pensions, IRAs, Retirement, and Employee Benefit Accounts

What accounts do you have and when were they opened?

1.

_________________________________________ __________________________________________

2. _________________________________________ __________________________________________

3. ________________________________________ __________________________________________

4. ________________________________________ __________________________________________

5. ________________________________________ __________________________________________

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15

Balance at Time of Marriage Balance at Date of Separation/Now

6. ________________________________________ __________________________________________

7. ________________________________________ __________________________________________

8. ________________________________________ __________________________________________

9. ________________________________________ __________________________________________

10. _______________________________________ __________________________________________

What was the balance of those accounts at the time of marriage and at the date of

separation/now?

1.

________________________________________ __________________________________________

2. ________________________________________ __________________________________________