Most people think they have two choices when it comes to divorce: either get an attorney or go through a divorce on their own. Couples who have children, significant assets or who have been married for a significant period of time think that they have to hire an attorney to figure out how to divide up their assets, determine child or spousal support, or share parental time. That simply is not true. At The Right Divorce Solution, we believe in enhancing communication between all parties and focusing on cooperation vs. building conflict. This is a much healthier approach for everyone involved, including the children. My process does not involve giving you legal advice or guidance. It’s my role to help you identify and discuss issues and to explore options and proposals for settlement. Using my services as a neutral with financial expertise allows couples to divorce much more affordably. It is very important that clients understand the long term financial implications of a proposed settlement. This is critical to understanding the effect on both parties, and their financial well being.
I also work with individuals who must litigate their divorce by providing support to their legal counsel for purposes of determining child or spousal support, facilitating the preparation of Qualified Domestic Relations Orders and/or determining the value of their separate property (usually pensions and investment accounts).
Mary Salisbury is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® and the founder of The Right Divorce Solution, LLC. During her career as an independent financial advisor, Mary developed a passion for educating women, particularly widowed and divorced women, so they could understand their investments and finances and confidently plan for retirement. Mary has since narrowed the scope of her financial practice to helping individuals and couples as a divorce financial planner and mediator. She continues to use her financial expertise to help clients understand the long term financial implications of property division, child support and alimony and how that will integrate with their other sources of income, including Social Security. Mary’s past experience includes a long career as an ERISA (employee benefits) paralegal in Dallas Texas, managing a large bankruptcy trustee practice in Los Angeles California and managing a veterinary hospital in southern California.
The majority of my practice is helping couples from their 30s to 60s work through dividing assets and determine how to raise their family as co-parents. I’ve helped individuals litigating their divorce, usually affluent women, prove their marital lifestyle by preparing a lifestyle analysis to provide to the court. I’ve helped individuals plan for divorce or just figure out what their life could look life so they could make a more informed decision about whether to divorce. I’ve helped individuals who married with assets they had already accumulated on their own calculate the value of their separate property.
With the exception of child custody, divorce is a financial settlement and should be approached that way. I provide couples with the understanding of their after tax marital estate as well as income and expenses so that mediations can be done with both short term and long term information on how a proposed settlement will affect both parties. This information during mediation facilitates better understanding and helps avoid misunderstandings and promotes settlement.
BA Economics from University of Miami
Former Certified Pension Consultant and Qualified Pension Administrator
Formerly Series 6, 7, 63 and 65 securities licensed (through Dec 2016)
$180 per hour.
QDRO facilitation done for a flat fee.
