On Monday, March 16, 2020, the Dow Jones saw its worst point drop in history. The coronavirus continues to stir up a volatile market, causing gains from the last three years to disappear completely in a matter of weeks. Especially in cases of complex divorce, this could mean significant losses to you and your former spouse’s investment and retirement accounts, which are tied to these plummeting markets. To help alleviate losses, there are some strategies you should consider when drawing up your divorce decree and figuring out how to divvy up these accounts.

Planning Your Divorce Around a Volatile Stock Market

There is no way to predict the future, and there is certainly no way to know for sure what will happen in the stock market in the days, weeks, and years to come. While the common belief is that everything tends to stabilize over time, it is difficult to see this when faced with market nosedives like those taking place lately. Regardless, here are some tips to consider during divorce when deciding how you will safeguard your investments and retirement accounts against these market downturns:

• Understand Cost Basis of Stocks—The original purchase price of a stock—that is, the amount of money originally paid to attain the stock—is considered the “cost basis.” Overall, when divorce attorneys and judges help you and your former spouse determine what is “equitable” in Illinois in terms of dividing up the investment accounts, they are looking at the cost basis of each investment. Due to this, you will want to take a closer look at which investments your partner wants to take or which investments are being assigned to you. In some cases, you could face a huge tax bill due to appreciation, or you might receive some stocks that are nowhere near their “cost basis” value anymore.

  ...

It is difficult enough for your child to deal with his or her parents’ divorce, but adjusting to your new romantic partner can add additional stress. This can complicate things further and make the post-divorce transition more challenging for everyone involved. In these cases, it is a good idea to make plans for how you will help your children get acclimated to your new significant other. By keeping your children’s best interests in mind, you can help them accept your new partner and ensure that your family is prepared for success in the years to come.

Ways to Help Your Children Get Comfortable With Your New Partner

Your new partner will likely want to be a part of your kids’ lives and help you out with parenting duties where they can. You can help ease them into this new role in the following ways:

1. Choose the right place for introductions—For initial meetings between you, your children, and your new romantic partner, none of you should be given preference in terms of the environment. If your children will be visiting your partner’s house, they will likely be anxious, and they may not respond well to the introduction. If they are at your house, they might want to gravitate toward the comforts of home, ignoring your new partner. If you choose a neutral place, this could help cultivate togetherness and empathy, the kind that builds stronger relationships.

   ...

For many years, people have insisted that there has been a definite trend in which the number of divorces has increased every year. However, the truth contradicts this belief, and that truth is far more complex than most people would imagine. Divorce is often not an easy decision or an easy process, and it takes time and careful deliberation to come to an understanding and acceptance of it. Because of this, it is not something that people take lightly.

Dispelling the Myth That Half of All Marriages End in Divorce

Before getting married, people are often warned that “half of all marriages end in divorce,” and this supposed statistic may be used to suggest that a person should think long and hard before taking the plunge. However, the actual statistics show an entirely different story. These days, the national divorce rate is not 50%; it is actually closer to 39  %. Overall, divorce rates have been steadily declining since the 1980s, which is when they peaked. In addition, the state of Illinois itself has a much lower divorce rate than the national average.

Why Are Divorce Rates Lower Than Expected?

There are many factors that contribute to a lower divorce rate. The most prevalent cause of this is generational. Millennials and some members of Generation Z, people currently in their 20s and 30s, are really discerning when it comes to finding a lifetime partner. Since they are being particularly selective in their choices of a romantic partner, these marriages are often less likely to end in divorce. Their likelihood of finding a partner who they probably will not divorce could be a result of the following:

The “five stages of grief,” which were first theorized by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, have been common knowledge for years. While many thinkers have made changes or additions to the original list of stages—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—understanding these five steps can still be a good starting point for anyone dealing with loss. Even though they originally applied to the grief resulting from a person’s death, these stages are relevant to any type of loss, including the loss you will experience when you get a divorce.

How to Address Divorce-Related Grief

With the stages of grief to guide you, here are five productive tips to help you manage the grieving process when getting divorced:

1. Be prepared. The end of your marriage is a major life event, and as with a loved one’s death, it is a significant loss in your life. As such, it must be handled with the same degree of care and awareness as bereavement. You need to be prepared for many of those usual grieving stages. Most importantly, you need to know that it will take time for your world to settle into some semblance of stability again. If you are not mentally prepared, you could find yourself suffering through the grieving process much longer than necessary.

   ...

In many cases, finances can be a leading factor in the choice to get a divorce. Married couples might be faced with difficult financial challenges, such as the expenses related to serious health problems or the loss of income resulting from unemployment. If a marriage was already unsteady, or even if it was seemingly going well, disagreements over finances can often be the catalyst for the breakdown of the relationship. Depending on your financial situation as a married couple, you might be considering both divorce and bankruptcy. Since both of these are major life events and significant legal decisions, careful thought must be given to them, and the appropriate time must be chosen to proceed with each.

Reasons to File for Bankruptcy Before Divorce

If you and your spouse are on the same page about your finances, and you share the majority of the debt, filing a joint bankruptcy before beginning the divorce process might be the right move for you. Here are some reasons why you may choose this option:

• Affordability—The cost of a joint bankruptcy filing and an individual bankruptcy filing are the same. If you two decide to file for bankruptcy separately when you are divorced, the process will be twice as expensive.

  ...