Do I really need to include my
spouse's financial information when I first come in to see you if he/she
is not involved with my financial problems and/or not in financial trouble?
This is a very common question
from people who first come in to see us. There are several answers. If you
think your spouse is not in financial trouble, why not give us the
information anyway and let us see if we can agree with you. After all, there is
no charge for the first meeting and making assessments like that is what we do
for a living.
A related answer is that, when a
person is in financial trouble, their spouse is going to be impacted in
some way by whatever we do. When a client leaves our office, they will have some
idea about their options and will have some degree of what we call "peace
of mind" but there may be somewhat of an gap without the spouse's
information.
Also, when they try to go home to the spouse to explain what
we have said, it will not "sound the same" as it did at the meeting. So the best thing is to
provide financial information on the spouse too and try to have spouse with you for the
meeting.
