Why should I care how much a judge earns??

Brace yourself. If you’re new to divorce—and most likely you are, since you’re reading this—this will be a jaw-dropper for you. But it’s also a case of knowledge-is-power if I’ve ever seen one.

It goes like this: It’s not written down anywhere. It’s not a rule. It’s not a law. But the sad reality is that judges in Arizona don’t like to award spousal maintenance and/or child support at levels above what they earn for a living.

You read right. Even if you’ve spent your entire married life living a lifestyle that exceeds what an Arizona judge makes, the judge that presides over your trial won’t care, and will likely cap it at what he or she makes.

Ah, but not all divorces go to trial, you say. Absolutely correct. There’s mediation, too. But brace yourself a second time: It’s often no better, for affluent women who are divorcing.

How do I know all this? Well, for starters, I’m a CPA, a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® professional, and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst^® professional. I’ve worked a lot of cases. I’ve worked with a lot of attorneys. The word gets out.

So in case you were wondering, judges in Arizona make about $120,000 a year. That is, $10,000 a month.

So if you’d been living off of, say, $15,000 a month, prepare for a steep uphill struggle.

This is why you absolutely need a pro like me on your side.

The judge’s bias goes something like this: “I can live off of $10k a month. So that woman should be able to, as well. Anything beyond that is unreasonably extravagant.”

The best way to mitigate a bias like this is through evidence and numbers, and I can supply both. You need—with my help—to submit an AFI (that’s the required Affidavit of Financial Information) that can be substantiated with actual historical spending. That’s your best defense against having your living expense numbers artificially drilled down by some judge.

But what about mediators? The very name sounds friendly. A “mediator” sounds so much more neutral, and so less harsh, than a “judge.”

Well, how do most mediators begin their careers? You guessed it: As judges. So they don’t—they can’t—simply switch off their “judge-ness” once they become mediators. They believe they know more about the process than the divorcing people who come to them—which is true. But it also leads to an attitude of “I know how this should go,” which can be detrimental to your settlement.

Which gets back to the numbers. I actually had a mediator tell my divorcing-woman client, “You’re trying to take food out of my client’s mouth! With what you’re proposing, he wouldn’t be able to eat!”

Wouldn’t be able to eat? The guy was earning $1 million a year. For the mediator, that was fine. But for the woman who was used to more than $10k a month, it was blasphemous.

Alas. Biases like this shouldn’t matter. They shouldn’t exist. But the sad reality is that they do. And now that you know about them, you can face your prospects better prepared, and not run into a wall you weren’t expecting. Especially with someone like me on your side, performing, say, a detailed lifestyle analysis, backed by numbers that can’t be disputed. It’s a boon to you and to the attorney representing you.

Contact me and let’s get you on a path toward your best possible settlement. Regardless of the biases you’ll face.

New service: Settlement Assurance Review

I now offer a new service—I call it my Settlement Assurance Review—in which, for a nominal fee, I’ll review a proposed settlement for any hidden financial issues or tax implications, before it goes to court or mediation. It’s a great option for giving you (and your attorney) extra peace of mind.

Want to learn more? Contact me today and let’s talk.