Confronting and Addressing a Power Imbalance
Basic Facts
Both spouses were close to retirement after a long marriage. Brian was a highly compensated attorney who handled the family finances. Anna, my client, was a school teacher with little financial sophistication and serious health and cognition issues.
Challenge
Brian’s inclination to negotiate the divorce like one of his business deals and Anna’s difficulty understanding financial options and making decisions contributed to the already substantial power imbalance.
Solution/Value Added
I chose, and Anna and Brian jointly retained, a female collaborative financial planner to educate Anna by assessing her post-retirement financial needs and projecting the post-divorce lifestyle Anna could sustain based upon various property division and alimony scenarios. The neutral divorce coach I recommended empowered Anna to make decisions and helped Brian understand that transparency, respect, and patience were in his best interests.