Note that divorce information given in this section cannot take the place of independent legal or financial divorce advice. Please read our disclaimer.

"I want a divorce, but I am not sure I can afford it. What should I do?"

That's a good reason to hire a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. A CDFA's job is specifically to work with you to keep the cost of the divorce down. For example, the CDFA is the source of intake for all of the financial data, and he or she can then disseminate that to both of your divorce attorneys, reducing the overall cost.

In doing that data intake, the CDFA knows what your assets are. So he or she can help determine what assets are available to help pay for the divorce, be that your checking and savings accounts or your brokerage account. Or if necessary, you can do lines of credit on the home, look at borrowing against cash-value life-insurance policies, or many other things if you have to, even using credit cards. But the CDFA will help you identify those assets and help reduce your cost of your divorce.

Paul J. Toohey is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP^®) and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA^™). He is a member of Collaborative Divorce Solutions, a Collaborative Divorce Group located in Orange County, California. His financial services can be reached at (714) 998-8200. View his Divorce Magazine profile.