When Support Stops: Protecting Your Family with Jeff Landers

Your settlement agreement is signed, but what happens if the money stops coming?In this episode, divorce financial specialist Jeff Landers returns to break down one of the most overlooked risks in divorce: the fragility of alimony and child support. Death, disability, a job wiped out by a failing industry can make court-ordered support disappear overnight. And most settlement agreements offer no protection against any of them.Jeff has worked on over 1,000 divorce cases nationwide and rarely sees disability insurance included in a settlement. He explains why that gap exists, what it costs families when it goes unfilled, and how to think about financial protection before you sign, not after.The conversation moves beyond insurance mechanics into the real decisions people face: how to build a realistic post-divorce budget, why the receiving spouse should own the life insurance policy, when keeping the house actually works against you, and why rushing to finalize an agreement because you're emotionally exhausted is one of the most expensive mistakes you can make.Tune in for a practical, grounded conversation about securing the deal you worked so hard to negotiate and making sure it actually holds.In this episode, you'll learn:Why alimony and child support are far more fragile than most people assume;The difference between group disability insurance and the private coverage that actually protects support payments;How to calculate the right life insurance coverage amount — and why a made-up number in the settlement agreement doesn't cut it;What "present value" means and why it matters when protecting future financial obligations; andWhy the time to get insurance in place is during negotiations, not after the divorce is finalized.Highlights:(00:00) Meet Jeff Landers(02:31) How fragile is support, really?(05:19) Death, disability, and what the courts can and can't fix(07:53) The homeowners insurance analogy(09:55) Who carries the most risk (and why)(13:14) Get the policies before the divorce is final(13:23) Most common financial mistakes in divorce(19:04) Making life insurance less intimidating(20:43) How to calculate the right coverage amount(22:11) Understanding present value without the math panic(23:14) What people wish they'd known sooner(25:06) The reframe: financial protection as peace of mindAbout our guest, Jeff LandersJeff’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jefflanders/ Hello Monthly Income: https://hellomonthlyincome.com/ About Divorce Dialogues and Miller Law Group Katherine's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kemiller1/Miller Law Group: https://miller-law.com/ More on her book The Emotionally Savvy Divorce at: https://katherinemiller.com/book/