I am facing a divorce from my wife. What can I do to protect myself financially?

When you are a man getting a divorce, you may have heard horror stories of men divorce assets. You may fear that you will have to give up a lot of your stuff, and even some of your salary, to your wife as part of the divorce settlement. The reality is, however, that there are protections built into the court system. There are specific legal rules (either called community property or equitable distribution) used to determine how your property will be divided, and there are also calculators and rules that determine whether you will have to pay alimony or child support.

There are still some things that you should do to think about making sure you are protected, even above and beyond the protections the law affords you:

• Consider trying to make an out of court settlement. If you can get your spouse to agree, you'll have more control over your what happens to your possessions
• Make sure you refinance all debt out of your name if you aren't responsible for it. The court may order your ex to pay it, but if your name is still on the debt, the creditors can still come back to you for collections if your wife doesn't pay

The best thing to do, however, is to make sure you have a lawyer. Your attorney can do everything within his legal power to make sure your rights are protected during the entire divorce.