Divorce Confidential: Coping With an Impossible Spouse During and After Divorce – Divorce is already a traumatic experience for most individuals and their families. Dealing with a toxic spouse who has it out for you makes the divorce process even worse by dragging out issues that could easily be resolved with compromise and agreements outside of the courtroom. If you and your spouse have children, child sharing might prove to be challenging even after the divorce if you are not able to get along and there is lack of cooperation from your spouse.

Average 30-year mortgage rate up to 4.28% – The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage edged up this week to 4.28% from 4.23% but remains near historically low levels after declining during the five previous weeks.

January Foreclosure Rates Jump Higher, Several States Still Crippled – In a sign that the housing recovery may still be uneven, January foreclosure rates moved higher by 8% when compared to December. The primary causes were increases in foreclosure starts and foreclosure auctions. However, the trend actually may help home prices later in the year.

Divorce Causes Tax Audits – Divorce is an experience everyone dreads and hopes to forget.  The worst way to be reminded of something you want to forget is a “tax audit.”  The IRS turns the divorce into a recurring nightmare.  Divorce is a common part of our lives and it’s something that we all need to know more about.  This article came about from a client that recently fell into the unfortunate circumstance, where the IRS came calling to discuss that “divorce.”

How Many Credit Scores Do You Need to Get a Mortgage? – In order to get a mortgage these days, home buyers are typically required to have three credit scores — one scoring model calculated three times based on each of your credit reports at the three major credit bureaus.

Are student debt-relief services worth the money? – As more students rack up debt, it’s perhaps not surprising then that some companies are trying to make a buck off of borrowers. Across the country, student debt relief services are promising individuals that they can help them save money by restructuring their debt.

As the economy bounces back, so do divorce rates – Financial strain has commonly been identified as one of the key reasons married couples divorce, according to University of Maryland sociologist Philip N. Cohen.

Detroit’s bankruptcy tab at $13.7 million and growing – Detroit’s price tag for lawyers, consultants and other professionals hit $13.7 million in the first 75 days of its historic bankruptcy, according to a report filed late Tuesday by a court-appointed fee examiner.

Mortgage rates creep down toward 4% – Maybe the days of rock-bottom mortgage interest rates aren’t numbered, after all. Once again, rates are creeping down towards 4%.

How mediation has put Detroit bankruptcy on the road to resolution – When Detroit filed for bankruptcy, the case was expected to mirror others around the country: contentious with several years of pitched courtroom battles ahead.

Life After Divorce: Who Gets Custody of the Friends? – If there’s one life event that’ll shake out who your real friends are, it’s divorce. Still, many are caught by surprise when friendships crumble and people they thought they could count on seem to be taking sides, especially if it’s not their side. It’s hurtful and can make you do all the wrong things.

How to Tell Good Debt From Bad Debt – More than $856 billion of this is from credit cards — the average individual credit card debt is more than $15,000 — and more than $1 trillion comes from student loans (the average loan total is more than $32,000). So, if you’re looking back fondly at that New Year’s resolution you made several weeks ago to get out of debt for good, you shouldn’t feel alone. But you don’t have to remain part of this crowd. Folksinger/songwriter Woody Guthrie famously made and kept New Year’s resolutions. You can do the same regarding your debt.

I’m a Debt Counselor … and I Filed for Bankruptcy – Today, a debt counselor and financial adviser shares how, while solving his clients’ financial problems, he mismanaged his own money to the point of bankruptcy.

5 states with the highest foreclosure rates – Although the housing market is recovering in many regions, foreclosures reached a three-year high last year. Short sales and foreclosure-related sales — including sales to third-party buyers at public foreclosure auctions and sales of bank-owned properties — accounted for 16.2% of all U.S. residential sales last year, up from 14.5% in 2012 and 15.2% in 2011, according to the 2013 U.S. Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report, released Thursday by RealtyTrac, a real-estate data firm. What’s more, the number of homes sold in December 2013 fell by 10% year-over-year to 5.17 million.

This is How to Get the Lowest Mortgage Rate – Most consumers know there is a multitude of factors affecting a mortgage rate such as property occupancy, loan program and even property type. However, there are other factors that carry the most influence on securing that new mortgage rate than any other factor, despite economic conditions.

Study: People prefer mediation in civil cases – People involved in civil lawsuits prefer mediation to nonbinding arbitration and like judge trials better than jury trials, a new study by a University of California Davis law professor concludes.

The Truth About Divorce? You Decide! – There is a significant ripple effect of divorce in society; divorce impacts not just the family in transition, the tentacles and effects are far reaching. There are both hard costs that are measured in dollars, and soft costs quantified by research – and immeasurable social costs.

Average 30-year mortgage rate dips to 4.39% – Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average for the 30-year loan declined to 4.39% from 4.41% last week. The average for the 15-year loan eased to 3.44% from 3.45%.

Your health: Is January National Divorce Month? – Some couples, as part of a fresh start to the new year, are heading to divorce attorney offices.

When Your Credit Score Is Too Low for a Mortgage – Mortgage lenders have tightened their credit requirements since the freewheeling lending days that led to the financial crash. Borrowers need, in general for a conventional mortgage, a minimum FICO score of about 650. Remember, the higher your credit score, the lower you mortgage interest rate will be.

US Property Foreclosure Filings At Lowest Annual Level Since 2007: Report – There were nearly 1.4 million default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions in 2013, a report released earlier this week showed, with Florida topping the list of states for foreclosures, even as inventory dropped steeply from peak levels while the speed of the foreclosure process slowed to a record pace.