WATCH: Understanding Your Income During Divorce

Diana Shepherd, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® and Editorial Director of Divorce Magazine 

The first step to gaining control of your finances – and life – during divorce is to prepare a written, detailed, up-to-date budget. "Gather documentation to ensure that your budget is objective and not the product of guess-work," says Shepherd. "First, you need to identify your sources of income, which includes revenue from full- and part-time employment, investment return, and self-employment income. Add up all the income from different sources to come up with total income."