One of the most important parts of getting a divorce is dividing up the assets and debts between the spouses. Estate Divider is the latest iPhone app from Divorceapps.com that gives spouses a DIY tool to help themselves and reduce the costs of lawyers, mediators, and litigation. The app allows a spouse to:

• Input the values for the various assets and liabilities of the marital estate;
• Assign specific assets and liabilities to “Spouse A” or “Spouse B” (such as a house or car) or allocate asset value between “Spouse A” and “Spouse B” (such as a bank account);
• Input an overall desired division of the estate between “Spouse A” and “Spouse B”;
• Calculate the amount of money needed to accomplish the desired split, express the amount of money needed to accomplish the split in terms of either a cash payment from the spouse with the higher initial allocation, or alimony, or a mix of both;
• If any of the equalizing payment is allocated to alimony, determine the post tax equivalent of the alimony to be received by payee and the post tax cost of the alimony to be paid by the paying spouse;
• Calculate any overall tax advantage to either spouse by structuring the part or all of the equalizing payment as alimony;
• Email the desired settlement and outcome of the property division.

Estate Divider app is available on iTunes for $9.99.

Estate Divider is the latest creation of Dallas family law specialist Michelle May O’Neil and Fort Worth forensic CPA Bryan Rice. The two formed their company Divorceapps.com in 2010 to provide DIY solutions that save divorcing spouses money on the costs of getting a divorce. Their first app, Divorce Cost & Prep, released in May on iTunes illustrates the hidden costs of divorce such as the cost of maintaining two homes, added transportation costs for the children, and cost of parking at a lawyers office. Divorce Cost & Prep also helps a spouse put together all of the documents that a lawyer might need to process the divorce, again saving the client money.

O’Neil and Rice developed the idea for the apps as a way to help clients save money in their divorces. “There are many people that want or need a divorce that cannot afford the high costs of litigation,” says O’Neil. “Our apps provide those people with the ability to help themselves and save on the money it might otherwise cost to pay a lawyer to do these things for them.” 

Divorceapps.com uses Brainwash Inc. to develop their iPhone apps, the foremost developer of iPhone apps in the DFW Metroplex.

Michelle May O’Neil specializes in family law in Dallas, Texas with the firm O’Neil Anderson. She is the co-author of All About Texas Law and Kids, published in 2010 by Texas Lawyer Press. As a step-mother to her husband’s 10-year old son, she relates to many of her clients with blended families. Bryan C. Rice is a forensic CPA in Fort Worth who focuses his practice on assisting attorneys and divorcing spouses with the financial aspects of litigation.