Divorce can be financially and emotionally taxing, especially if you throw in the cost of consultation.
Women in Connecticut might not know that there is a way for them to get the information they need about the process of divorce without having to spend thousands of dollars on lawyers, therapists and financial planners.
Since February 2014, Price Financial Group, LLC in Wilton has organized and hosted Second Saturday: A Divorce Workshop for Women at the Southport Congregational Church Library, 524 Pequot Avenue, Southport.
Second Saturday is a four-hour national workshop developed 25 years ago by the Women’s Institute for Financial Education (WIFE.org) for women contemplating, or in, the early stages of divorce.
In it, professionals educate women about the legal, emotional and financial pitfalls associated with divorce and offer strategies for avoiding them.
There are currently 50 workshops across the country. Price Financial Group hosts the only one in Connecticut.
As its name implies, Second Saturday falls on the second Saturday of every month. The Connecticut workshop runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Price Financial Group
Price Financial Group is an all-female financial services firm.
“We have a lot of widowed women and a lot of divorced women as clients, too,” said Chief of Staff Traci Provost, “and we saw a huge need for their education.”
Considering its clientele, Price Financial Group decided to be the first to bring Second Saturday to Connecticut. The firm has been hosting it ever since as a community service.
Price Financial Group asks for attendees to pay a $35 admission fee for the workshop, but “if somebody can’t pay, if they can’t afford to pay, it’s OK, they don’t pay,” Provost said.
All of the proceeds are funneled back either into the Southport Congregational Church or into WIFE.org.
It should be noted that even though Second Saturday in Connecticut takes place at a church, is not a religiously affiliated program.
The workshop
A traditional Second Saturday is composed of three segments that correspond with three aspects of divorce: the legal aspect, the emotional aspect and the financial aspect.
A family law attorney handles the legal segment, a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) leads the emotional segment, and a certified financial planner (CFP) takes on the financial segment.
Second Saturday in Connecticut brings in different professionals every month.
At the workshop on Sept. 12, Lauren M. Healy with Broder & Orland, LLC will be the family law attorney, Michelle Adelman with Changing Families will be the LMFT, and Price Financial Group’s own Lori Price will be the CFP.
Provost said Price Financial Group ensures the professionals they bring in are not trying to sell themselves or their practices in any way.
She added that some divorce attorneys like to take their clients to court, but she and her team urge couples to come to agreement before litigation starts.
“You don’t want a judge who doesn’t know anything about you or your situation to be making the deliberation. You want to go to him or her and say, ‘This is what we’ve agreed to,’” Provost said.
Of the workshop, Provost said she believes it to be a much-needed service in the area.
“It’s a resource that doesn’t exist around here,” she said. “We’re combining the three really important aspects of a breakup, of a divorce, in one workshop with other women.
“If you really look,” Provost explained, “if you look at meet-ups, if you look around the Internet, there aren’t really any workshops for women going through divorce. There’s therapy; there’s that sort of thing, but the financial piece of it and the legal piece of it are really hard to find at a reasonable price, and if you do find somebody really cheap, they may not be so good.”
She considers women who have taken the workshop to be better off than they were before taking it.
“Most women take away a better understanding of the legal process, and of what choices and options they have to help them save time, money and grief,” Provost said.
About WIFE.org
The Women’s Institute for Financial Education is a nonprofit financial literacy group founded in 1988 by women’s finance experts Candace Bahr and Ginita Wall.
According to WIFE.org, it “is the oldest non-profit organization dedicated to providing financial education to women in their quest for financial independence.”
Information: Potential attendees are urged to pre-register for the workshop at SecondSaturdayFairfieldCounty.com. That said, walk-ins are welcome.
Cash or check admission payments may be made at the Southport Congregational Church on the day of the event.