If you are going through a divorce and are financially strained in meeting all of your obligations, your family attorney can help you create a needs hierarchy to determine which bills should be paid by order of importance. This is especially important to create if both you and your spouse are in financial distress.
Basic Divorce Needs Hierarchy
The basic divorce-needs hierarchy is categorized as: 1) the needs of you and your family, 2) your possessions, and 3) your credit rating.
In meeting the needs of you and your family, your Ventura family attorney will advise you to pay the following bills first:
– Food
– Essential clothing
– Essential medication
– Rent
– Utilities
After taking care of yourself and your family members’ essential needs, you should pay bills for important assets, such as your car loan or home mortgage. Lastly, and after the above has been taken care of, you should worry about paying unsecured debts, which usually include credit card debts.
Purpose of Creating a Needs Hierarchy
The main purpose of creating a needs hierarchy is to help you and your spouse maximize the financial resources you have to maintain the basic lifestyle you need to survive. A needs hierarchy will also help you to keep your perspective as to what is important during the tough financial road you may encounter after your divorce.
Contact Us
For more information about developing a needs hierarchy plan that will meet all of your needs during a financially strained divorce process, it is in you and your spouse’s best interest to first consult with a family law attorney.