By Andrew Coen March 10, 2008

 

With more than half of U.S. marriages ending in divorce, the Association of Divorce Financial Planners Inc. thinks that the time is right to increase membership.

The group, which sponsors the certified divorce financial analyst designation, launched a chapter in New York in late February and plans to start one in Cincinnati this spring. It also plans to increase its marketing efforts.

There are 3,000 CDFAs in the United States, but not all specialize in divorce, according to the association.

"For many years, New York City has been without a place for us to work together," said Stacy Francis, president of Francis Financial Inc. in New York and a co-founder of the new chapter with Cindy Anderson Thompson, founder of Divorce Planning Solutions LLC of New York.

Ms. Francis said she hopes that the new chapter will smooth the divorce process for couples in the region through the collection and analysis of appropriate data, the evaluation of alternative settlement scenarios and the monitoring of changes in post-divorce circumstances.

The ADFP, which is based in Greenwich, Conn., said that working with a certified divorce financial analyst can help individuals going through divorce understand the legal process more thoroughly and thus avoid costly mistakes and emotionally driven outcomes.

"I cannot think of a single divorce case that would not have a financial issue in it," said ADFP president Lili Vasileff. "I would love to see [CDFAs] become the standard for the divorce process."

Ms. Thompson went through a divorce of her own recently and said she wishes she had been aware of a service such as ADFP during this difficult process. "A lot of times, it's just triage," she said.

Jeanette Palma, a certified financial planner in Coram, N.Y., also went through a divorce, which she described as adversarial in nature. She said that she would like to see the ADFP market itself better so that others don't have to endure the negative experience she went through while separating.

"I wish I had knowledge of this kind of group," said Ms. Palma, who recently became a CDFA. "[The divorce] really took an unnecessary toll on us."

Ms. Vasileff said that in addition to launching chapters, the ADFP is also trying to involve more financial professionals in its organization. The association has retooled its website, divorceandfinance.org, to make it more interactive and more of a marketing vehicle.

Steven B. Paskal, a first vice president at RBC Wealth Management (formerly RBC Dain Rauscher) based in New York, said 20% of his financial planning adviser practice is geared toward divorce planning. He hopes to increase that concentration to 50% in the next five years.

"The need is going to grow," Mr. Paskal, whose firm has $125 million in assets under management, said of the importance of CDFAs as divorces continue to rise. "Divorce being an unfortunate circumstance in present society, many people are unfamiliar with the long-term financial decisions that need to be made."

Even mortgage bankers are beginning to see the value in a divorce specialty.

John Sauro, president of Stamford, Conn.-based North Atlantic Mortgage Corp., said he is hopeful that the expansion of the ADFP in New York will make the general public more aware of the services he and other brokers can offer to people going through a divorce. He said that when a marriage breaks down, claims to the ownership of houses and other property can become a major battleground where a mortgage broker can help resolve disputes.

"A lot of hand-holding is needed," said Mr. Sauro, adding that much of his business involves financing properties that change owners as a result of divorce.

Rita Medaglio-Barrera, managing director of Paragon Divorce Management LLC, a subsidiary of Paragon Capital Management Corp. of Smithtown, N.Y., said she hopes the ADFP New York chapter will reach out to divorce attorneys.

"We need to educate lawyers on what we bring to their clients," said Ms. Medaglio-Barrera, whose firm manages $70 million in assets. "We all want to help the clients."