Breaking Up Without Breaking the Bank

Breaking up is always hard to do. In the worst economic downturn most of us have ever lived through, it can be downright excruciating.

Plummeting home values, sagging investments, job worries and exploding college and health-care costs have made parting ways and splitting assets more difficult than ever.

Even for couples with fewer assets than, say, Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, that is a good recipe for frustration and anger. One St. Louis family lawyer, Marta Papa, has seen such a rise in client hostility that she purchased a Taser, which she places on a nearby end table when couples come in.

"The scarier part is that I've had to use it three times" by casting a red laser-beam light as a warning, Ms. Papa says. "I guess the chocolates and classical music weren't enough."

There are, however, a number of cheaper, less-stressful alternatives to the traditionally costly and acrimonious divorce proceeding. For couples willing to do some of the legwork themselves, options such as mediation and collaborative divorce can pay off financially. The key: working together, something most divorcing couples can't easily do.

via Breaking Up Without Breaking the Bank - WSJ.com.