For couples
Working With a Financial Neutral
One financial analyst for both of you. You both want this to be fair. We build one set of numbers you can both trust, show you what every realistic option produces, and take no side. Much of what feels like conflict turns out to be uncertainty, and it shrinks once the numbers are clear.
Book a free consultationTwo experts means two sets of numbers. One means you start from the same facts.
When each spouse hires a financial expert, you usually get two analyses built from the same records and then spend months, and real money, working out whose is right. A neutral engagement does that work once, for both of you, and everything we produce goes to you both at the same time.
The regret we hear afterward is rarely about the split itself. It is about fees that came out of the money being divided, and about an agreement that looked even on paper and stopped working in year eight, when support ended and the mortgage did not.
How a neutral engagement works
Every case moves at its own pace, so treat these weeks as the usual shape of the work rather than a schedule. The order matters more than the dates.
Week 1
1. Getting set up
The engagement is signed, you both get access to a secure document portal, and we walk you through what is coming and in what order.
Weeks 1 to 4
2. Building the picture
You send documents and we build one balance sheet: everything you own, everything you owe, and what each item is actually worth. Then we come back with questions.
Weeks 3 to 6
3. Analysis
The after-tax value of each asset, income and support, and what each of you will need to live on afterwards.
Weeks 6 to 9
4. Options
Two or three realistic scenarios, shown not only at signing but five, ten and twenty years out. We sit down together and walk through them.
Weeks 9 to 12
5. Refining and handing off
We refine the direction you choose and prepare the written analysis for whoever drafts your agreement, along with what has to happen afterwards, like retirement account transfers and title changes.
The one thing that shortens it: getting documents in early. Nothing downstream can start until the picture is built.
Helping someone decide?
If you are a parent, a friend, a therapist, an advisor or an attorney helping a couple weigh their options, this page is written to be shared. Everything a couple needs to understand the neutral approach is here, and the first conversation costs them nothing.
What we do, and where the line is
One analyst can stay fair to both of you because the lines are drawn at the start and do not move. Those limits are the reason you can both trust the numbers.
What we do for you both
- Build one complete financial picture that you both work from
- Model each realistic option after tax, years out, not just on the day you sign
- Explain the trade-offs in plain language, to both of you at the same time
- Point out what has to happen after the agreement so nothing falls through the cracks
What we will not do
- Take a side, or tell either of you what to accept
- Hold a private conversation with one of you that the other does not see
- Give legal advice or draft your agreement
- Represent either of you later if things change. The role is set at the start.
We recommend an attorney review your agreement before either of you signs, whether you work with one attorney together or each have your own.
The house doesn’t have to be “keep it or sell it”
The family home is one of the hardest questions in almost every divorce. When two people can work through the numbers together, there are usually more answers than two. Each of these needs careful drafting by an attorney, and none is right for every couple.
A deferred sale
One of you stays in the home until a set date, often when the youngest finishes school, and then it is sold and the proceeds are divided the way you agreed at the start.
The trade-off: Both of you keep a stake in a property only one of you lives in, so maintenance, repairs and the eventual sale price all need clear terms.
Keeping the existing mortgage
If your rate is well below today’s, staying on the loan together can keep the monthly cost low enough that one of you can afford to stay.
The trade-off: You both remain responsible for that loan, and it counts against whoever moves out when they apply for their next mortgage.
A buyout balanced with other assets
Instead of finding cash all at once, the spouse keeping the house gives up a larger share of something else, like a retirement account.
The trade-off: A dollar of home equity and a dollar in a retirement account are not worth the same after tax, so the trade has to be measured, not assumed.
What the other path costs
Much of the expense in a divorce comes from the financial side: gathering records, valuing assets, disagreeing over whose numbers are right, and going back and forth through two offices. Every hour of it is paid from the same money you are dividing.
With a neutral analyst, that work happens once. You both understand the pros and cons of each option, and couples can often settle most or all of the financial questions before the agreement is drafted. An attorney still reviews it, but they are reviewing finished work.
Is a neutral engagement right for you?
It tends to work well when
- You both want an agreement you will still stand behind years from now
- You are willing to share every financial document with each other
- You disagree about some things but can still sit at the same table
- One of you understands the finances better and you both want that evened out
It is probably not the right fit when
- Either of you needs someone in your corner, advocating for you
- There is a history of hiding assets or information
- You find it hard to agree on much of anything right now
If that is where you are, we will tell you, and point you toward mediation, separate counsel, or working with us as an advocate for one of you.
Thinking about this before you have raised it with your spouse? That is common, and it is a good place to start. The first conversation can be with just you.
Who you would be working with
Tidal Pointe was founded by people who have been through the financial side of divorce themselves, and who have spent years since helping others through it. We know what it is like to make the largest financial decisions of your life in the middle of the hardest season of it.
Meet Bob Mitton and Erin GarlettsCommon questions
- Can we share one financial analyst in our divorce?
- Yes. In a neutral engagement one analyst works for both of you together, builds a single financial picture, and shares everything with you both at the same time. It works best when you both want to reach an agreement and are willing to work from the same facts.
- Can a CDFA work with both spouses?
- Yes, as a neutral. A Certified Divorce Financial Analyst can be engaged by one spouse as an advocate or by both as a neutral. Which role applies is agreed at the outset and does not change partway through, which is what makes the neutral role trustworthy to both of you.
- What does a neutral financial analyst do in a divorce?
- Gathers and organizes the financial information, values what needs valuing, and models the realistic settlement options so you can both see what each one produces, including after tax and years into the future. The analyst does not advocate for either of you or tell you what to accept.
- Do we each need our own financial expert to divorce?
- Not necessarily. When each spouse hires an expert, you often pay for two analyses built from the same facts and then spend time reconciling them. A neutral analyst does that work once, for both of you. If you find you cannot agree on much, separate experts may be the better path, and we will say so.
- Is this the same as a financial neutral in a collaborative divorce?
- It can be. In a collaborative divorce, both spouses and their attorneys agree to settle outside court, and the team often includes a financial neutral. We can serve in that role where the collaborative group does not require its own collaborative training for team members; where it does, we will tell you at the outset. Many couples work with us directly, without a collaborative team at all.
- Is a financial neutral the same as a mediator?
- No. A mediator runs the negotiation and, in many states, mediation is a regulated role. A financial neutral provides the financial analysis the negotiation stands on. We are not mediators, and we are glad to work alongside one if you have one.
- Does a neutral financial analyst replace our attorneys?
- No. We do not give legal advice or draft agreements. We recommend an attorney review your agreement before either of you signs. Some couples work with one attorney together and others each prefer their own; either way, the financial work arrives finished.
- What happens if we stop agreeing partway through?
- It happens, and it is worth naming early. We keep working from the same facts with both of you, and if the two of you can no longer reach terms together, we will tell you plainly and recommend mediation or separate counsel. The analysis already done stays shared with both of you.
- How does the cost compare with each of us hiring our own expert?
- A neutral engagement is one engagement instead of two, and it avoids the hours spent reconciling separate analyses. Those fees come out of the same money you are dividing. We talk through what your situation is likely to involve in the first conversation, which is free.
Tidal Pointe Advisors provides divorce financial analysis as a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst practice. We do not provide legal or tax advice, we do not act as mediators, and a neutral engagement does not create an advisory relationship with either spouse individually.