Marriage & Divorce

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Save up before your wedding and spend only what you have. The most important part of a wedding is the meaning of the marriage, not how fancy the wedding is.
Check helpful websites such as theknot.com and indiebride.com for ways to save on your wedding.
In the event of a divorce, you must protect your financial interests by terminating both the marriage and the joint financial obligations. That includes credit card accounts, mortgages and jointly held loans. Refinance the loans or sell the house or car.
If joint accounts are not closed, you are legally responsible if your ex-spouse doesn't pay, no matter what the divorce decree says. Your credit can be ruined and you can get knocked out of the credit market.
Make sure to consider each spouse's retirement accounts and stock options, if there are any.
Consider divorce mediation, a less adversarial process than using lawyers, in which a mediator tries to get the two parties together to reach a fair agreement. But be sure to have any mediation agreement reviewed by a lawyer.
If your ex-spouse is months or more behind in child-support payments, consider using a collection agency. Don't pay more than one-third the amount due in collection agency fees.

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A special word to women investors...

Men and women are not created equal when it comes to saving for retirement. If you're a female investor, Clark has some special advice for you.

ClarkHoward.com and The Clark Howard Show offer more money-management advice for couples.

Clark's tips for handling money in a relationship

Do opposites attract, or do you look for the same kind of person when it comes to how you handle money? My wife and I are what I call the MasterCard logo couple. When we met 18 years ago, we were opposites with how we approached money. Over time, we ...

Doing Valentine's Day the Clark Smart way

Valentine's Day is coming up. Are you ready, guys? Every year I see men who haven't planned ahead and have to make last-minute purchases at the end of the business day on Feb. 14. I just know they're getting fleeced on prices! If you are into romance and saving money, ...

Credit card applications won't take household income into account anymore

Stay-at-home spouses who can't prove income can no longer get new lines of credit, thanks to a provision of the CARD Act of 2009 that just went into effect this past October. This is a definite challenge a lot of non-working spouses are facing as we ramp up toward Christmas ...

Man dumpster dives for wife's $10,000 ring

How much money would it take to get you to dumpster dive? $100? $1,000? $10,000? There was a story I told on air many years ago that caused an intense reaction among listeners. I had bought an electronics item that came with a $100 rebate. But you had to cut ...

Communication about money is essential in relationships

If you are in a relationship where the handling of money has been an issue, it can tear at the fabric of that relationship. Open and honest communication is just about the only solution I can recommend to avert disaster. I recently spoke to a man who told me that ...

Las Vegas wedding chapels adapt to survive fewer nuptials

We think about love and marriage like this little cocoon that we go into and the rest of the world doesn't intervene. But that's not the case and I've seen the numbers to prove it. Las Vegas wedding are down roughly 30% over the last several years, according to Bloomberg. ...

Costco now sells wedding dresses

If you or someone you know is getting married, I have some suggestions about ways to save money. Costco Wholesale has been getting derisive press of late for selling high-end designer wedding dresses at a fraction of what they would cost elsewhere. We're talking typically somewhere between $700 and $1,200. ...

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Clark's word to women who love their men

If men aren't taking care of themselves, going to the doctor or exercising--does it really help if the women who love them step in and start nagging?

Should newlyweds sign a pre-nuptial agreement?

Clark hasn't exactly been drawn into the hoopla over Prince William and Kate Middleton's upcoming marriage. But one angle has caught his eye: all the talk urging William to sign a pre-nuptial agreement before he walks the aisle. A lawyer once called in asking about pre-nups. Clark was very against ...