I Just Want This Done Featured in MoneyWise.com’s Daily Wisdom newsletter!

MoneyWise.com is a highly rated financial planning and advice website, and they have an excellent daily newsletter with financial tips and advice. They featured the book and asked author Raiford Palmer three key questions taken from the book:

The feature was as follows, taken from the newsletter:

“The MoneyWise Q&A is a new feature where we ask personal finance authors three questions about their area of expertise.

This week we're featuring family law attorney Raiford Dalton Palmer, whose latest book is entitled I Just Want This Done: How Smart Successful People Get Divorced Without Losing Their Kids, Money and Minds.

Q: What are some of the most common myths about getting divorced?

A: That divorce has to be a WW3-style battle. That the court is a perfect “computer” that will calculate the best result for your family if you go to trial. That the “good” person is rewarded and the “bad” person is punished. That attorney fees are the only real cost in divorce.

Q: From a financial standpoint, what are the main things to consider before starting divorce proceedings?

A: There are four costs to divorce:

1) Fees 
2) Cash burn is much higher for ongoing expenses aside from fees 
3) Your career is impacted because you are putting time and energy into the divorce 
4) There is a substantial emotional cost to you and your family

Also, consider that you are now going to have to support two households on the same income(s).

Q: What’s the biggest piece of advice you’d give to someone who’s thinking about getting divorced?

A: Be nice. Do what you can to steer the case to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) — either collaborative practice (preferred) or attorney-assisted mediation. Court is expensive, takes a lot of time, and trials won’t necessarily provide the result you're seeking.”