What Your Divorce Attorney Won't Tell You About Money with Donna Cates

Most women going through divorce know they need a lawyer. What they don't always know is that the negotiation happening outside the courtroom, not inside it, is where the real financial decisions get made. And if you don't understand the numbers, you can't negotiate for what you actually deserve.Donna Cates has spent 25 years as a wealth manager working specifically with women in transition. Divorce is her specialty. And in this conversation, she gets into the financial realities that most people don't talk about until it's too late.We cover What equitable distribution actually means, and why equal isn't always fairWhy your retirement account and your house are not the same asset even if they're worth the same on paperThe one document you should pull together before you ever say the word divorce out loudHow to start a financial conversation with your spouse when you've never had one, without triggering alarm bellsWhat to do when you have no idea what your household finances actually look like, and Why the negotiation process, not the courtroom, is where you keep control of your own lifeDonna also shares her own divorce story, coming home from a work trip to find her world turned upside down, and the pattern she kept repeating in relationships until she finally did the inner work to understand her part in it.Her parting message: don't be afraid of money. Make yourself a seat at the financial conversation table. Knowledge isn't intimidating. It's the thing that protects you.