Financial Clarity in Divorce with Expertise from Tanya Aure

Ever wondered how to ensure your financial future is secure during a divorce? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Scott Levin, a family law attorney specializing in divorce mediation, and Tanya Aure, a San Diego Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) from Southern California. Scott and Tanya unpack the critical role a CDFA plays in navigating the financial complexities of divorce, from separating community property to managing intricate assets like RSUs, pensions, and rental properties. Tanya sheds light on how a CDFA can provide clarity and informed decision-making, making it crucial for those not well-versed in finances to seek their expertise.

In this episode, Scott and Tanya discuss real-world scenarios where a San Diego divorce financial planner impacts the settlement in a positive way with unique and indispensable skills.  Learn how Tanya breaks down various asset classifications—like dividing an IRA in divorce vs taxable brokerage accounts— to help clients understand their financial landscape fully.

Hear about the importance of being informed before finalizing any settlements, and how a California CDFA can help achieve a fair divorce settlement and give you the confidence needed to navigate the mediation process effectively. This episode is a must-listen for anyone aiming to make sound financial decisions during a divorce, ensuring a secure and well-planned future.

Thanks for listening and I hope you'll continue to learn more about how you can peacefully divorce.

As a divorce mediation attorney in California, Scott Levin helps couples figure out the settlement terms and draft enforceable settlement agreements so they can divorce fairly without needing to go to court. Obtain closure peacefully through an amicable divorce. process that protects families and kids.

Visit San Diego Divorce Mediation for more information and to learn more about our mission to help divorcing couples make informed decisions and fair agreements through mediation or book a free virtual consultation.

Scott Levin, attorney, mediator, CDFA®
Chief PeaceKeeper
[e-mail]
858-255-1321
San Diego Divorce Mediation & Family Law
www.SanDiegoFamilyLawyer.net

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey everybody, this is Scott Levin.
I am a family law attorney whomediates divorce cases, and I am
here with Tanya Aray, acertified divorce financial
analyst based in SouthernCalifornia.
Hi, tanya, hi.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Scott.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Well, we've had enough of the pleasantries,
let's get to it.
Yeah, great.
I wanted to ask Tanya to comeon today and talk to us about
when someone should hire a CDFA,a Certified Divorce Financial
Analyst.
So this video assumes thatyou're navigating a divorce
process, and under whatcircumstances can a divorce

(00:42):
someone that's trainedspecifically as a divorce
finance expert come in and help?
When is an appropriate time toseek out that help?
I have my answers.
I'm sure Tanya's answers arebetter.
Tanya, what do you think?

Speaker 2 (00:58):
I don't know that my answers are better, but I will
tell you, in my experience as aCDFA, the best time to use
someone like me or any otherCDFA is one.
If you weren't necessarily theone to handle the finances.
Right, there's a little bit ofmurkiness.
You weren't the one that wroteall the checks, where all the
accounts are.
The CDFA can help you clarifythat picture, right, kind of

(01:22):
empower you to really understandwhere your finances currently
sit.
Right, you need to make thesefinancial decisions in clarity,
solely because this is going tobe your future, right?
We can't be making decisionsleft and right without really
knowing what you have.
The second instance where I feellike a CDFA is really helpful
is when you have a lot ofcomplicated assets.

(01:42):
Right, you have RSUs, you'vegot pensions, a bunch of
retirement accounts, rentalproperties, or if you've been
married a long time but you didhave separate property prior to
the marriage that you want topreserve and make sure that
keeps out of the whole communityproperty division, right.
So we just wanna tease all thatout and a CDFA can do that

(02:07):
gigantic plan really and saythis is what your financial
picture looks like.
These are the issues you wantto consider.
How would you like to proceed?

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yeah, and there are specific calculations that, like
a CDFA, knows how to do, thatare relevant to all sorts of
divorces.
So, for example, if you or yourspouse owned a home prior to
marriage and then there are manycircumstances in California by
which that property can be stillseparately owned in part but

(02:39):
also owned in part by thecommunity, and it's not a
guessing game, there is our waysfor it.
If I refer my clients to Tanyaand she does the math to figure
out what the exact breakdown isbetween the person who owned it
before, what equity they have inthe house, and what the

(03:00):
community or both of you own thecommunity or both of you own.
There's also just in mediation,specifically, because Tanya
works in divorce in general butin mediation it's hard for
people to make settlements whenthey aren't sure they're
understanding the game.
And the game is like what's theplaying field?

(03:22):
The playing field in financesare like what are all the assets
?
What are the meaning or impactof different classifications of
assets?
So there's IRAs, there's RothIRAs, there's taxable brokerage
accounts.
Those are not all, dollar fordollar, the same.
Depending on your age, right,there's implications to certain

(03:44):
things.
Tanya can basically say this iswhat your settlement proposal
means to you now and this iswhat it kind of means to you
down the road and that allowsyou to make confident decisions,
which someone like me needs youto make in order for me to be
able to help you mediate becauseI can't force a settlement out
of you you have to be willing,and hiring someone like Tanya

(04:06):
really gives confidence topeople during the mediation
process you cannot make thesedecisions in a void right.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
If you do not know all of these answers for your
finances, you're not ready tomake a decision.
That's how I feel about it,because once the decision is
made, you're not going to beable to undo it right?
So when I work with people, Igenerally look at what's
happening now, but then we alsolook at okay, so what's going to
happen after?
What's this look like?
What does your budget look like?

(04:37):
Is what you are fighting overor what we're going to talk
about getting enough for yourfuture?
And if it's not, what do we do?
Right?
Again, cdfas, our whole purposeis to give you clarity, going
through the divorce process,about your finances and making
sure you make well-informeddecisions.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
Yeah, and one thing I really enjoy about Tanya is
that she's not actually tryingto like link on to you after the
divorce, right, tanya?
Like you're not a financialadvisor, so like you're not
she's not motivated Like, insome ways.
Any professional I refer has tohave a bit of authenticity and
straight talk.
I don't want to refer tosomeone that is going to fluff

(05:15):
around the issue and make themake their client feel like you
know to to fight for somethingthat they really aren't entitled
to or something like that.
They have to be willing to tellthe truth to the person too,
because that helps people makedecisions and that's you know.
Another thing I really likeabout Tonya is that she's she's
here to help during this processand then you know, if you never

(05:36):
spoke to her again, I'm sureshe would be quite fine with
that.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Well, scott, I agree in the sense that I am not an
advisor.
I'm not looking to invest yourmoney after the fact right, I am
really here for this specificpurpose and then to give you a
sketch or a plan moving forward.
At the end of the day, me, youknow, sugarcoating everything
isn't going to do you any favorsand I do not want you to come

(06:04):
back to me and say you know whatyou said, this was going to
happen.
I know I didn't right.
We just need to be straight up,upfront and honest right from
the beginning, and my clientslike that.
It works out.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
Yeah, so I'm going to put your information in the
chat.
Tanya Do you want to or isthere you want to give your
website, or how can people reachout?

Speaker 2 (06:23):
Information in the chat is fine.
I think that's probably theeasiest and best way to do it,
cool.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
All right, thanks for coming today.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Thank you, Scott, for having me.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
I appreciate you.