Divorce is rarely pretty and it’s the first couple of days which can be crucial to your financial outcome. Unfortunately we’ve had a number of friends who’ve been slow to react to this situation and its cost them dearly in the long run.

It’s that time immediately after a marriage breakdown when you feel your most vulnerable. It is a very emotional time which can be made a lot worse by a sense of financial vulnerability.

It you aren’t the major breadwinner in the relationship, those first couple of days after a relationship breakdown can be critical for your future financial security. Not only is it important to shore up short term finances to pay the bills but also to lay the foundations to ensure you receive your fair share of the assets you’ve BOTH worked hard to build.

Under no circumstances should you spend the first 24 hours after your partner leaves locked away in your room. There are a number of things you have to do straight away. You never know, your partner may have been planning their departure for a while and could have even received legal advice already.

The key is to secure your physical, emotional and financial security.

. Take money out of your bank account to get you through the first few weeks, but try and be fair. For example, if there is $10,000 in a bank account only take out $5,000.

. Change the password on your bank accounts. The last thing you want them to do is spend all the savings on themselves.

. Apply to the bank to change your accounts to two signatories. This means that both you and your partner have to sign any cheques or withdrawals from the accounts.

. Organise with the bank to receive all correspondence relating to all your accounts. This includes credit card bills, cheque and savings account statements, mortgage updates, and superannuation statements.

. Collect as many important documents as possible and make copies of the lot. We’re talking about things like the deeds to the family home and any investment properties, share certificates, and super fund details.

. Secure all of your paperwork. It’s advisable to take it away from your family home to your parent’s place or to a close friend.

. Secure things that are important to you like jewellery, photos, and family videos.

. If your partner’s moved out, change the locks. You don’t have a legal right to do this, but it will make your home more secure.

. Make an appointment to see an accredited solicitor and counsellor.

. Don’t agree to anything without taking time to get advice and think about it. You never know, they may have already been to a lawyer who has advised them to take advantage of your shock and unpreparedness.

. If you have children let their school know what is happening. They can put into place good processes for the kids to be looked after.

. Be fair if your partner is moving out of the family home. Let them take some stuff, like the second television and some crockery.t;/p>

. Don’t say anything really bad about the other person. This is the most emotionally exposed you are ever likely to be…so curb your tongue.

. Keep the lines of communication open. If you do this you will increase the chance of an amicable separation. You don’t want to pass a message on to your partner through your solicitor, who speaks to their solicitor, who relays the message to your partner. That drastically increases the chance of miscommunication, which can lead to litigation.

. If your break-up is civilised and you have children, take them to see where their other parent is living. Reassure them that they is not sleeping on the streets. Little kids need to see they have a fridge, a television and a bed.

. Be careful about verbal threats. If you are genuinely scared or intimidated contact the AVO officer at your local police station.

We know this list can seem a little callous but it’s important to put emotion aside because there is nothing worse than being behind the eight ball because you were too slow.

BANK PENALTY FEES

The proposed class action against the level of bank penalty fees will be interesting to watch but we’ve been amazed at the success of Sunrise viewers in challenging these penalty fees themselves.

A bit of background first. Our interest was piqued from a move by the Office of Fair Trading in the UK claiming that companies can’t profit from penalty fees, they can only recoup the costs of the action.

The same legal principles apply here, but we don’t have a specific law and there is no Government body or Office Of Fair Trading to take up the case.

We asked Sunrise viewers hit with a penalty fee to ring their bank and challenge the amount charged. Overwhelmingly, viewers tell us the bank refunded the penalty.

I suspect the banks know what’s happening in the UK and certainly don’t want the same thing to happen here and are willing to do a deal and cut the fees for those who complain to keep them quiet.

The Consumer Law Action Centre has also told us that other types of penalty fees such as library fines or video rental late fees could also be illegal.

PIIGS BACK AT TROUGH

The European Union and the International Monetary Fund certainly shocked financial markets with the size of their $1 trillion safety net to support their debt ridden members.

The support was big and decisive which begs the question why they didn’t do it earlier instead of dithering and causing panic.

For the moment markets have settled but it just shows how fragile the global economic recovery is at the moment.

Australia has dodged an enormous bullet during the Global Financial Crisis but we can’t be complacent. Just because we’re travelling well doesn’t mean that shocks overseas won’t have an impact.

News Limited