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Upcoming Webinars
Past Recordings
IDFA records monthly webinars and offers the recordings here for follow-up viewing. We now offer 1 hour of CFP Continuing Education credit for attendance to our approved Live Webinars. There will not be CFP CE credit given for watching the recorded presentations. CDFA® professionals who watch the webinars can receive CDFA® CE credit by completing a short quiz following the presentation. Click the "Take the quiz." link associated with the webinar. If you pass the quiz, you will receive a certificate of completion. Download the certificate and submit it in your IDFA account for CE credit. Only webinars with associated quizzes are eligible for CE credit.
The Tax Cut and Jobs Act in Relation to Divorce
What you need to know about how the laws have changed and how that impacts strategies that we employ as CDFA® professionals.
The Role of the CDFA® in the Collaborative Law Process
Participating in the Collaborative Law process presents a paradigm shift and many challenges to all members of the professional team. As a Financial Neutral and an important member of the team, it is the CDFA's job to provide financial data as directed by the attorneys and the clients, which may be a different role than the CDFA is use to. With over a dozen successful cases as a Financial Neutral, Diane Pappas offers her best practices, from how to get involved with a collaborative group to what to do as a neutral and more importantly, what not to do.
Executive Compensation: The Ultimate CDFA® Guide
Join IDFA and Nancy Hetrick, CDFA®, founder of Smarter Divorce Solutions, for this educational webinar that gives you an in-depth understanding of exactly how to handle the most common executive compensation awards in a divorce situation!
We will cover:
• Stock Options
• RSU’s
And discuss:
• Are they marital?
• Are they vested?
• Will they be valued?
• How will they be divided?
• What are the tax implications?
• Will they be considered and asset, income or both for purposes of spousal maintenance and child support?
• And much more!
You won't want to miss this informative presentation - Register today!
Strategy for Converting a CDFA® Prospect to a CDFA® Client
If you are a newer CDFA and looking for a solid process to help you develop your divorce niche, this webinar discusses ideas and strategies designed to streamline your initial contact with a prospective client to spur them into taking action.
Some of the items covered will include:
- Handling the initial conversation
- Screening questions
- Process for your first meeting
- Follow-up procedures
Competent Report Writing
Report writing is an essential part of our profession. Whether it’s a cover letter or a comprehensive report for trial, understanding the basics of good report writing is a must have skill. In this webinar we will be discussing the structure, format and content of a trial appropriate report. We will also be discussing designing your Curriculum Vitae to be bulletproof upon cross-examination. Courts often require that your information be shared with the opposing counsel as well as entered into evidence. It is crucial that your written report stand as a model of clarity.
Divorce and the Special Needs Family
Statistics show that 20 percent of the U.S. population is affected by special needs. While the divorce rate among families with special needs is often the topic of great debate, there is one fact that remains certain: the complexity of a divorce proceeding increases exponentially when working with families with special needs. Knowing how to handle financial planning for families with special needs at the onset of a divorce process will help to ensure that the future of the family member with special needs is considered in all aspects of the negotiations, including child support, alimony, and custodial decisions including guardianship.
Attend this webinar to find out how child support and alimony can adversely affect eligibility of potential government benefits; how to preserve assets with the use of special needs trusts; and how to address conflicts related to quantifying future care needs and selecting future trustees. As a financial professional with extensive expertise in this area, Mary Anne Ehlert will help you understand the importance of addressing these issues early in the process and how to ensure that a family member with special needs is not overlooked in the process.
Optimizing College Financial Aid in a Divorce
Don't miss IDFA National Conference speaker Sandy Voit as he provides a quick and basic understanding of how federal financial aid is determined, with the criteria that impacts two household families, taking into account the 2018 Tax Reform Act, and suggest strategies to enhance financial aid awards – both by structuring settlement agreements, as well as through greater knowledge of how the system works. (There also is great information for anyone whose child will be heading off the college...). You won't want to miss this educational webinar.
High Conflict Personalities - Identifying and Managing for Successful Outcomes
We’ve all had them as clients. You know the ones. Totally unreasonable, expect everyone to automatically give in to their demands, use bullying as their main strategy. What about a client that tells you in the very first meeting that you are going to be the answer to ALL their problems and then when things don’t go their way, they decide to blame YOU! These people are known as High Conflict Personalities and they can derail your business by leaving distorted internet reviews, maligning your reputation, threatening to sue, and leaving you reeling from the impacts.
DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!
Nancy Hetrick with the Divorce Financial Planner Training Center is offering a FREE WEBINAR on High Conflict Personalities - Identifying and Managing for Successful Outcomes.
Based on the world-renown work of Bill Eddy and the High Conflict Institute, Nancy will help you identify the High Conflict client, learn a 30-second shift technique to immediately shift the behaviors, train yourself to override your OWN emotional reactions, and offer these clients the BEST opportunity at a successful negotiation.
The session will be recorded for those that can’t attend live.
Taxes and Financial Planning for Divorce
During this webinar from IDFA and Jeff Rattiner, CPA, CFP®, MBA, you will be learning about a topic that’s on the mind of every CDFA® now: what are the implications for financial planning (and especially divorce) of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. With the biggest tax law change in over 30 years, new strategies present themselves for financial advisors and their clients. For some, the new tax act provides a unique approach to planning going forward, and for others various short-term opportunities may exist.
We’ll navigate through the aspects of the new law that impact divorce, including issues of timing (should clients file earlier and finalize the decree sooner to comply with the changing tax laws effective 1/1/19?); filing status; concerns about children regarding ongoing payments including tax credits; state residency issues of common law and community property; tax deductibility rules for mortgage interest, property tax and divorce costs, if applicable; home sales and strategies; the transferring of retirement and other asset transfers; and how payments to an ex-spouse will affect overall negotiations with the demise of deductible alimony.
This webinar has been approved for one (1) hour of CDFA and CFP Continuing Education Credit when watched live.
Learn the 4 Common Uses of Reverse Mortgage by Financial Advisors and How They May Help Divorcing Seniors
Home equity is a significant asset for many retirees and one that increasingly is being considered proactively in retirement planning strategies. Join IDFA and Tom Dickson, a former RIA and leading educator to financial advisors, as he covers the four common uses of reverse mortgages by financial planners; provides insights on the most popular reverse mortgage (the HECM) that is backed by the federal government; and delivers advice on how to model reverse mortgages in MoneyGuidePro or any other financial planning program (e.g., eMoney, Naviplan, etc.).
Tom will also share examples of how divorcing seniors may use a reverse mortgage.
What you can expect to learn:
- How to use a reverse mortgage credit line as a hedge for clients with no long term care insurance or too little in savings.
- Examples of how reverse mortgages are used to eliminate a client’s mortgage debt and improve the probability of their savings lasting a lifetime.
- How reverse mortgage payments may provide additional tax-free cash monthly.
- Ideas for how clients can use a reverse mortgage to finance divorce settlements and new home purchases.
The Gray Divorce Phenomenon
Approximately one in four divorces occurs among couples over 50. This rate is more than double that of 1990. The phenomenon was first studied by the AARP in 2004. Media and academia have not lost interest. “The Devastation of Gray Divorce for Older Women,” “Divorce is Destroying Retirement,” “The 37 Year Itch,” and “Why Your Grandparents are Finally Calling It Quits” dominate the media from The Wall Street Journal to Bloomberg, Psychology Today, and the LA Times.
Chances are most of your Baby Boomer clients are lumped as “gray divorces.” How and why are they different from other generations? How do they experience divorce differently? Most importantly, how do we serve them most effectively?
Justin Reckers, CFP, CDFA will share common client concerns, creative settlement examples, practice tips, thoughts on behavioral finance, and maybe even answer, “Why now after all these years?”:
Leveraging Your CDFA® Success With A Mastermind Group
Would you like the opportunity to brainstorm ideas, tap into the experience and skills of other CDFAs, get feedback on your cases and find solutions to problems? Then forming a Mastermind group may be just what you need to help propel your CDFA practice to the next level.
In this webinar, you will learn about topics that include:
- What is a Mastermind Group?
- What are the Benefits
- How to Start a Group
- How to Find Members
- Procedures and Tips for Success
Critical Divorce Strategies for Families with Special Needs
Statistics show that 20 percent of the United States population is affected by special needs. While the divorce rate among families with special needs is often the topic of great debate, there is one fact that remains certain: the complexity of divorce proceeding increases exponentially when working with families with special needs. In this Webinar, Mary Anne Ehlert, a financial professional with extensive expertise in this area, will discuss how child support and alimony can adversely affect eligibility of potential government benefits; how to preserve assets with the use of a special needs trust; and how to address conflicts related to quantifying future care needs and selecting future trustees.
Beyond Basics: What Every CDFA Professional Needs to Know About QDROs Today (and Why)!
To remain competitive in today's market CDFAs need to know more than just the QDRO basics. Drawing on over 20 years of experience preparing QDROs for Michigan and Illinois attorneys, Jacki Roessler will guide you through the most critical ways CDFAs can add value to cases. This webinar will cover topics that include understanding the difference between private and public sector plans, assisting with Discovery and Retirement Plan research, a deep dive into survivor benefits, coverture fractions, addressing non-qualified plans and more!
Post-Divorce Checklist: Are You Really Done?
Based on a survey of family law attorneys, this webinar will include a checklist of areas financial professionals should be reviewing to ensure that everything documented in the divorce process will be carried out. This list will encompass:
- Division and Retitling of Assets
- Estate Planning
- Financing for new residence
- Post-divorce budgeting
Understanding Divorce-Related Mortgage Issues
When a divorce settlement involves real estate and mortgage financing, the complexity can increase exponentially. Failure to consider and account for these complexities can not only impact your clients ability to finance an existing marital residence but also affect your clients ability to purchase a home as the move onto the next phase of their life.
Join Douglas Katz for a webinar that will cover the basics of identifying and managing the real estate components of a separation and divorce. The major topics range from titling to structuring maintenance to credit scores. Be ready to provide your clients guidance on what could be the largest investment of their life.
Outcomes for Dependent Spouses with Alimony and Self-Efficacy
What effect does alimony have on outcomes for dependent spouses? What is the primary driver of success for dependent spouses after divorce? Examining the history of spousal support in the context of current research, this webinar will explain the origins of spousal support, how it has evolved, and the current sate of outcomes for dependent spouses. Information will be provided to CDFA professionals on how they can use current research to inform their conversations with clients and guide them to a successful future. This webinar will provide suggestions on how support can be more dynamic and how the CDFA professional can model future outcomes for their clients, but also provide information to a supporting spouse and their attorney, which may assist with negotiations.
Updates in the Division of Military, Civil Service and State Pensions in Divorce
One of the most complicated and confusing financial topics in divorce is the division of military and civil service pension plans. This webinar walks attendees through the basic rules and requirements for division as well as explores the many loopholes and areas of current dispute including plans affected by the "Catch 62", survivor benefit election, waiver of benefits and disability pension benefits. In addition, this session describes how the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2017, signed by President Obama on December 23, 2016, included a provision (Section 641) that dramatically changed the division of military retired benefits.
How Tenable is Your Pension Valuation?
Just how tenable is your pension valuation? Join Gerard Zielinski of Divorce Financial Solutions as he discusses when and why a pension valuation is needed in divorce. He will also review the factors and assumptions that affect a pension valuation. Join us as we take a deep dive into these complex issues.
Modeling Cash Flows in Family Law Software
Dan Caine, President of Family Law Software, gives a practical look at the technical side of a divorce financial analysis practice. This shows you how to use the software to enter, do projections for, and understand cash flows.
After the Final Settlement: Post-Divorce Checklists and Business Development Opportunities
Whether a CDFA professional was involved in divorce financial planning prior to the settlement or not, this is an opportunity for CDFA professionals to show off financial planning skills and reveal wealth management opportunities. Pam Friedman, CFP, CDFA shares with us her post-divorce experiences, checklists, and ideas to help you market a post-divorce practice to attorneys and paralegals.
Perils of High Net-Worth Parenting
It may sound improbable, but emotional and psychological outcomes for children from wealthy, educated, two-income households are now below those outcomes for inner-city poor children. This presentation attempts to explain this phenomenon and provide solutions. Additionally, ramifications for high net-worth divorces are discussed.
How to Act as a Neutral and Settle Cases
Have you ever considered helping husbands and wives settle their divorce case without attorneys calling the shots? In other words, have you ever considered working as a neutral? As a CDFA professional, you may be able to function as a mediator or hire yourself out to mediators as a divorce financial expert, helping couples save money, alleviate drama, and get a good start on their new lives. Robin Graine, JD, CDFA, VA Supreme Court Certified Mediator, will discuss how to comfortably “sit in the middle,” not get sued, and make money doing it.
Data Visualization for Divorce Financial Professionals
The human brain processes images 700,000 times faster than text, yet CDFA professionals' primary tools are spreadsheets, equations, and numbers. Join Michael Kothakota, CEO of Wolfbridge Financial, to learn how you can use data visualizations to help communicate vital financial information to your clients.
A House Divided: Analyzing Real Estate Options for the Present and Future
Karen Sparks (J.D., CDFA) discusses the fundamental requirements for different real estate alternatives, the processes involved in implementing these strategies, how software analysis can support your client discussions, and key professionals that can help facilitate client decisions.
What is the Business Worth? Where to Start
Daniel Hall of the International Society of Business Appraisers gives a lesson in business valuation. For many households today, a substantial portion of the family's net worth may be tied up in a small business owned and operated by the family. This presentation lays the groundwork for considering the valuation assignment.
Select Topics on Tax Saving Ideas
Peggy Tracy (CFP, CDFA, CFE) discusses little-known strategies to help your clients reduce income taxes, including overpaying taxes on alimony; the importance of tax credits after divorce; income-related legal fees; and cost basis calculations.
Key Areas of Analysis Impacting Marital Standard of Living Reports
Karen (J.D., CDFA) discusses the ins and outs of marital standard of living reports. Topics include the purpose of these reports, how to prepare and lay out the reports, and what client data to include.
30 Cases in My First Year: Marketing Your CDFA Practice
Nancy Hetrick (CDFA, MAFF) discusses how to build and market your CDFA practice. Topics include networking, volunteer work, educational marketing, and online referral sites.
Tax Strategies for Small Business
Jonathan (CPA, CDFA) discusses tips for small businesses to minimize their tax exposure while maintaining compliance with IRS requirements. Topics include a discussion on small business tax deductions, tax strategies for new businesses, incorporating your business, and under-utilized tax deductions.
Dividing Retirement Plan Assets in Divorce
Retirement assets are usually the first or second largest asset in the marital estate. Howard discusses the most important issues that come up when dividing retirement assets, including 401(k) plans, profit-sharing plans, pension plans, and 457 plans.
