How to help your clients through divorce and beyond.

Breaking up is hard to do and divorce is a difficult topic for anyone experiencing it or helping others through it. For financial planners there are ethical questions such as who is the client – can you keep both parties through this time? How do you approach the necessary discussions? What type of other professionals do you need to work with to achieve the best results and in what way?

The Stella Network has chosen “Divorce – Breaking up is Hard to Do” as its topic for a panel discussion this week in Melbourne (with live webcast) on Tuesday August 11 and in Sydney on Thursday August 13 because of overwhelming interest by members.

Australian statistics now claim 30% in marriages will end in divorce, which makes the topic one of great relevance for advisers as many client’s marriages will end in divorce.

Because most advisers will see their clients as a couple and discuss joint goals and financial positions having a breakup will impact the relationship greatly.

Many advisers will say that they are able to retain both parties after the divorce – at least within their business although they will have different advisers helping them through the actual divorce and division of property.

The emotions that come out during a divorce make it more difficult for many people to deal with their professional advisers – even more difficult than death, advisers said. This is often because divorce (unlike death) often brings with it feeling of shame and guilt and people feel that it’s their fault and they will be judged. It is, therefore, very important to try to minimise the involvement with the emotion.

You need to listen to your clients, and hear them out but then offer what you can do – which will not be to sort through their feelings but give them the ability to focus on their financial position so when it is all over they can start again in the best way possible.

One financial planner said that when clients are in the depth of the emotion they are often unable to listen and focus on what the planner is saying and there is a risk that down the track they will not remember why they made the decision so it is often better to talk to clients who have someone with them

Another adviser said that from his perspective, one of a couple is often more through the process of divorce than the other. One person has probably been thinking about it longer and has mentally processed more of the separation than the other. You just have to give them time to process things at their own speed. And remember, often people going through divorce are lonely and vulnerable.

There will be time to network with other planners and aspiring planners at both the Melbourne and Sydney events and ask questions of the panel. The session has 1.5 CPD hours accredited.

To register for the Melbourne event click here.

To register for the Sydney event click here.

The Stella Network is an initiative funded by BT Financial Group to support women in financial planning. Currently the industry has only around 20% of female financial planners and it is the belief of the network that more diversity will be better for everyone – both men and women working within the industry and those seeking financial advice.

Previously, the network has run events on “You had me at Hello”, focusing on how to make sure your discussions with clients are a call to action. This is something that women in our network expressed they’d like help with. These sessions were successfully run in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and involved a group of actors performing real scenes from adviser meetings.

“Doing good, and Giving Well”, was another panel discussion held last year on philanthropy with a focus on how important the connection could be with clients on this topic.

By Julia Newbould

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