New Orleans Family Law Blog

Divorce can negatively affect people in Louisiana financially, and a study that appeared in "Sociological Science" found that it can hurt some children's access to education as well. This is often related to the reason for the divorce itself, a father's lack of employment or underemployment. Some data indicates that men who are not in a breadwinning role are more vulnerable to divorce.

Income may also drop after divorce because one spouse is unfamiliar with the family finances. In some marriages, men take responsibility for the finances, and some divorced women have to balance insurance, housing costs and more for the first time. However, there are also relationships in which the woman says she entered the relationship with a strong credit score only to have it drop over the course of the relationship. Credit scores can also be hurt if a spouse does not pay a fair share of debt. Both people may agree to split a debt, but if one person does not do so and the debt is in the other person's name, it is that person's credit that will suffer.

For most, divorce is an emotionally painful experience. However, it can be just as financially painful over the long term. A hidden pain that many ex-spouses suffer is a lower credit rating. Those in Louisiana going through a divorce should take steps to prevent this from occurring.

Divorce itself does not affect a credit score one way or the other. Rather, it is when the party divides the marital debts that mishaps could occur. If a former partner fails to pay the debts assigned to them, both exes will suffer. Women tend to get hurt more from this situation. In a recent survey, more than half of the female respondents indicated that their credit scores suffered.

While a divorce can feel exhausting, the work does not necessarily end when the final paperwork is signed and submitted. Estranged Louisiana couples may still have several other issues to address.

For example, some people may need to change their name on their driver's license and other documents. Others might need to remove a former spouse from a health insurance plan. A commonly overlooked step is changing the estate plan. This can mean altering a will or a trust and drawing up new powers of attorney. People should also check their beneficiary designations on insurance policies and retirement accounts and change them if necessary.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have become extremely popular among investors in Louisiana and around the country because they offer the promise of robust returns and operate outside the sphere of government regulators. However, the qualities that make them an attractive addition to investment portfolios can be a major challenge to divorcing spouses and the attorneys representing them. Placing a value on these volatile assets can be difficult during property division negotiations, and the privacy offered by Bitcoin and its competitors have made these alternative currencies a popular way for high-net-worth individuals to conceal funds.

The value of marital assets are generally set based on what they were worth when divorce papers were initially filed, but legal and financial advisers say that a different approach should be taken with cryptocurrencies because their value fluctuates so much. Between November 2016 and February 2017, Bitcoin prices surged by more than 1,200 percent and then fell by 40 percent. To address this problem, experts suggest waiting until assets are distributed to set the value of cryptocurrencies.