GAME OF DRONES

y a. marie velthuizen
DIVORCE DOES NOT HAVE TO MEAN
Financial Disaster
Making financial
decisions
in the
midst of distress is a
move that financial
advisers tend to discourage.
Yet, when
the divorce process
takes over your life,
your days are full of distress even
when there are still plenty of financial
decisions to be made. The two don’t
make good bedfellows, yet somehow
each has to be satisfied for the divorce
process to end.
Enter Deb Johnson, a trained mediator
and certified divorce financial
analyst, who is part of a burgeoning
new career field assisting potential divorcees
in ways most attorneys cannot.
She owns the Divorce Resource Center
of Colorado, located in Littleton.
“At the time of divorce, clients are
often filled with fear of the unknown,
yet required to make major financial
decisions that will impact them and
their families for the rest of their lives,”
Johnson said. She knows this is true
from personal experience gained when
going through her own divorce. “I
don’t give legal advice; that is for each
client’s attorney to handle. What I do
is analyze their finances to determine
what the short and long term financial
impacts of various divorce settlement
options will be.”
Instead of the process being an overwhelmingly
draining experience, in
Johnson’s mind, divorce can include
personal empowerment and preparation
for what lies beyond that final decree.
“I offer a process that leads clients
through the financial complexities of
the divorce step-by-step, so they feel
educated,” Johnson said. This includes
analyzing the marital estate for assets
and liabilities, determining the value
of any retirement plans, stocks, bonds,
pension plans, and stock options. Johnson
forecasts the long-term impacts of
these decisions to give her clients an estimate
of future income in order to set
up a spending plan. It includes giving
her clients financial recommendations
that prove useful for their attorneys in
the legal process.
She launched the firm in 2008, after
20 years as a wealth adviser. At that
time, her clients came – divorce settlements
in hand – asking her to make
investments to provide them with a secure
financial future. What she found
in those settlements, however, was unsettling.
“In some cases, it was clear they did
not understand what they had agreed
to. What appeared to be equitable at
the time of divorce was in fact not at all
equitable as time marched on,” Johnson
said. “It occurred to me that there
was such a huge need.”
Yet, despite the clear need, Johnson
struggled in getting those first “divorce”
clients. She tried contacting attorneys
– offering her financial analysis
services – but most considered her a
competitor rather than a support. She
hit pay dirt by making a presentation
at a mental health conference. Last
year, she worked on 66 divorces in addition
to her other financial planning
and wealth management.
In 2014, Johnson wants to offer mediation
services for family disputes – especially
in the area of elder care.
“When it is time to move Mom and
Dad to an assisted living facility, this is
tough,” Johnson said. “I would like to
help family members communicate in
a positive way, where the older people
are feeling empowered as well in this
decision and not feeling as if it was just
made on their behalf.”
For now, she continues working
with those seeking financial assistance
during divorce. The clients Johnson can
help the most are the ones that come to
her before official divorce proceedings
have begun.
“I can spend time educating them
on the various ways to get divorced in
Colorado and also looking at how this
will financially impact them,” she said.
“They are often much better prepared.”
www.DRCofColorado.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.25