In the reality of the modern world there has to be some consideration for the financial aspects of everyone getting decent shelter and that often involves splitting the pie so-to-speak.  If it's done later, for example when the kids are grown 10 years from now, you need to plan from the beginning what to do since there are some rocky roads to navigate ahead.  Naturally getting a good attorney is a good idea, but if that's not in the budget, I have the following books to recommend.

Both are by Carol All Wilson and Edwin Schilling III a team of a Certified Financial Planner - Financial Divorce Specialist Practioner and an Attorney at Law. For husbands, The Survival Manual for Men in Divorce  and for wives The Survival Manual for Women in Divorce. They are both published by Omni Press. If you have any difficulty in obtaining a copy, contact me.

I come into the picture when any of the following takes place:

• The court orders the marital home to be sold and appoints me as the Realtor
• The court orders the marital home to be sold and your side and the other side agree that I should be the Realtor
• One side wants to sell the marital home and the other side agrees perhaps reluctantly and they agree a third party should chose the Realtor, and the third party chooses me
• One spouse has non-marital property he or she wants to sell and chooses me as the Realtor
• I am asked by one side or the other side to testify as an expert witness when a dispute involves a property for sale or contemplated for sale

When I am not the appropriate professional to seek:

• When you need tax advice, but I can alert you when you need tax advice related to your real estate transaction that the divorce situation implies and I can explain to you the problems or issues without telling you what to do. Your tax advisor should tell you what to do.
• When there are estate planning issues related to your real estate transaction you need advice about. But I can alert you to issues that divorce triggers in estate planning and succession. Your appropriate legal professional should advise you what to do.
• When there are issues regarding distribution of your pension or 401(k) related to your real estate transaction, planning your real estate transaction, I can alert you to the problem and refer you to your tax or pension professional but  I cannot advise you what to do.
• Separation agreements, Social Security Benefits, Child Support. These are all the domain of your legal advisor. However if something affects or is affected by the real estate transaction and your divorce, I can alert you to it to discuss with your appropriate advisor.

How I work:

• Where there is a lawyer representing you I prefer to work with your lawyer
• When the two sides are talking and not at each other's throats I recommend that they enter into a written agreement I don't need to see that will govern the bargaining position for the marital property in advance to be administered by one of the lawyers to whom I will present all offers and from whom I will accept and communicate any counter offers or acceptance.  I can recommend a form agreement. But my ideal is that the parties agree on various "bottom lines" of net proceeds on the HUD-1 that I can present with the offer, allowing a budget for buyer   demands created by inspection. Ideally I would like our own professional 3d party inspector to help prepare us for a budget.
• I recommend getting a home inspection at that time so the parties can include a budget for what they are willing to pay for in the likely demands of the buyer. If possible I would like to sit in at an appropriate part of the meeting so I can advise the parties what will help most to sell the property. We can also use the home inspection as a sales tool showing prospective buyers what to expect when they order their own inspection and notifying them in advance what we will and won't do. It snuffs out some negotiations and instigates others, but all the cards are up on the table and the parties can agree between themselves upon a budget, which is the most important thing.
• I do not recommend the most common request. Namely starting at a high price and lowering the price by a small percentage at periodic intervals to assure someone that the highest price is being obtained. That's where I come in as a professional. I have 40 years experience in prognosticating selling price and terms. You wouldn't go to a doctor and negotiate how he would mend a fracture. I have been known to turn down these assignments. The reason is the result is counterintuitive. The more price decreases and longer a property is on the market the less exposure it will get when it finally hits its proper price-point and therefore it does not obtain the price it deserves and would have obtained had it been initially put on the market for what it was worth.  Contradicting myself a little, I do price property high enough to give the buyer some satisfaction that we "came down"  somewhat in the negotiations so we can counteroffer with "some sugar." But this should not be mistaken for setting an arbitrary high price and periodically lowering the price an arbitrary amount or percentage.
• I request the following documents at our first sitting: certified copies of the summons,  any prenuptial agreement that might affect the title or permission to sell the property, interim court order, stipulation or decree authorizing the property to be sold by the court, or the separation agreement ("divorce decree") if there is one, parenting plan, deed copy you received when you bought or were gifted the property, request for entry upon land if there is one.(Ask your lawyer for most of these.) If not at our first meeting, I will need them before we enter into a listing agreement.
• I charge a modest fee for doing a CMA and expert testimony should I be called into the case to testify. Please contact me for a quote. I have to charge a fee because otherwise my services would be exploited by people who have no intention of listing but only want evidence in their contested divorce case.

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