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eskielover said:
The last time I tried to figure out the $ amount to split up, I got so frustrated, I just gave up....& that's not going to happen this time....I really need some help on that & don't want to pay the sky high prices of a lawyer to help figure that out.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">Then go with the divorce financial advisor. Our financial person's hourly rate is about 2/3 of the lawyer's. Your financial professional will help you get all the assets listed on a spreadsheet. If you tell him which assets you want and which your H wants, then he can divide them up and work to make it come out 50/50.

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a house so full of junk, you can't even conceptualize putting a $ amount to everything & having to split it all up

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">This is not commonly done. In our divorce, it is simply listed as "belongings and furnishings -equitable split". No dollar amount is given. This way, it is up to the 2 spouses to decide what stuff in the house they will keep. You don't want to waste your time or your lawyer's on determining dollar value for everything. Just work with your spouse to take what seems fair--your clothes and sporting equipment, hobby stuff, pieces of furniture that are special to you, a china set whose pattern you really like, etc. If you don't want any of the furniture, fine, let him have it. You do not need to value this stuff or split it 50/50! (My H was only too glad to leave the houseful of junk with me.) The only exceptions would be for coins, gems, original valuable artwork, etc. The only pieces of property specifically valued in dollars in our settlement are our 3 cars. I got one, he got one, and the third we gave to our daughter. We also have listed in our settlement two diamond rings and a coin collection but did not assign dollar amounts. We just listed that the coins go "100%" to my H and the rings go "100%" to me. So don't worry about all the knick knacks and furniture unless these things are really valuable or if you really want one and your H does too and you cannot decide who gets it.

At that site Lemon recommended in another thread, there is a list of the 5 different ways to get a divorce and the approximate cost and length of time for each:
The Five Key Ways to Get a Divorce.