When individuals in Illinois decide to get divorced, one of the most important steps for them to take is to remove their future ex-spouses’ access to their personal accounts, as well as replace shared accounts with individual ones. These accounts include both financial and online accounts. In this way, they can more easily begin their independent lives. Here are a few tips for embarking on this process.
Identifying and addressing shared accounts
When two people have been married for years, they may naturally have many shared accounts, devices and passwords. In light of this, a divorcing spouse should ideally create a comprehensive list of these assets. They typically include email, banking and social media accounts.
In some cases, one spouse might have logged into an email account on a device belonging to the other spouse, or the other spouse may have the passwords of the first spouse. In this situation, they will likely want to change their passwords. The same is true with their social media accounts, such as their Twitter, TikTok, Instagram or Facebook. For banking accounts, it’s best to set up new bank accounts in individual names and to close all accounts formerly shared with the other spouse.
Legal support can prove invaluable
Figuring out the financial aspect of divorce can no doubt be challenging, especially for divorcing individuals with high-value assets. Fortunately, an experienced Illinois family law attorney can help a divorcing individual to seek a fair settlement with the other party either through negotiation or litigation, when needed. Either way, one’s attorney will make sure that a client’s rights and best interests are protected during each stage of the divorce proceeding.
