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About Kristine Rushing, CFP®, CDFA®, CP®, MBA

As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst​®, Certified Financial Planner®, Certified Paralegal and professionally trained mediator, Kristine Rushing has spent the last six years focused solely on helping divorcing spouses reach the best possible agreements based on their personal or shared family goals. Rather than offering divorce planning as an “add-on” service, as many financial planners do, she has chosen not to provide ongoing investment advisory services. This allows her to maintain neutrality and offer clients the best possible service during this difficult, life-changing event.

In addition to divorce financial planning to individuals or couples, she serves in the capacity of financial neutral in mediated and collaborative cases. She is an active member of the Association of Divorce Financial Planners, Academy of Professional Family Mediators, and Collaborative Divorce Solutions of Orange County, and volunteers as a mediator within the Orange County courts.

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Certifications, Licenses and Memberships

  • CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™  professional
  • Certified Divorce Financial Analyst​®, Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts
  • Certified Paralegal, National Association of Legal Assistants (NALA)
  • Mediator (40-Hour Divorce Mediation Certificate, Mosten Mediation Training, 32-Hour Divorce Mediation Training, OCHR/DRPA, 40-Hour Mediation and Conflict Resolution Training, Center for Understanding in Conflict)
  • Registered Legal Document Assistant (LDA)
  • Collaborative Law Training, Seattle Collaborative Law Training Center
  • Collaborative Law Training, Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association (LACFLA)
  • Member of Academy of Professional Family Mediators (APFM)
  • Member of International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP)
  • Member of Collaborative Divorce California (CDCal)
  • Member of Collaborative Divorce Solutions of Orange County (CDSOC)
  • Member of Association of Divorce Financial Planners (ADFP)
  • Member of Financial Planning Association (FPA)
  • Member of Southern California Mediation Association​ (SCMA)
  • Member of Center for Understanding in Conflict (CUC)
  • MBA, Specialization in Finance – California State University, Fullerton
  • Paralegal Certificate, University of California, Irvine

How does a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst​® professional help?

When facing divorce, it can feel like your world has been turned upside down. There are so many questions to be answered, bringing fear and uncertainty to an already difficult situation. These one-time financial decisions have both short-term and long-term consequences.

Working with a CDFA® professional ensures you’ll have the analysis and understanding needed to make informed decisions about your settlement, and most important, peace of mind. Here are some examples of what your CDFA® will help you understand:

  • Separate or Personal vs. Marital Property
  • Valuing your property
  • Dividing assets and debts
  • Retirement savings and pension division
  • After-tax division considerations
  • Options for the marital home and mortgage
  • Lifestyle analysis and budgets
  • Ongoing health care coverage
  • Child Support
  • Spousal Support
  • Potential tax implications resulting from support child-related decisions
  • Short-term and long-term impact of proposed divorce settlements

A CDFA® professional will gather your information for analysis and then generate reports and graphs to illustrate the impact of various settlement options on your cash flow and net worth so you can make informed decisions.

Many CDFA® professionals are willing to work with other professionals on your team, such as attorneys, tax accountants, pension fund administrators or financial planners, and can help reduce the overall cost of the divorce process significantly. Often, the analysis provided can be used as the basis for individual post-divorce financial planning.

While a CDFA® does not give legal advice, they may help attorneys by making sense of financial proposals or providing the tools they need to prove their cases. See www.institutedfa.com for additional information.

My Background and Personal Message to You

My goal is for you to fully understand your financial situation in order to make informed decisions, to achieve it in a harmonious manner, and to move forward with confidence and a new-found sense of peace that the financial structure you rely on is sound.

I believe we can shift the divorce process away from the old model, which was adversarial, prohibitively expensive and fear-inducing, to an improved model that removes complexity, encourages productive co-parenting and allows you to heal and focus on creating your new individual life in a positive manner. And, I know this can be done with the the assistance of professionals like myself at a reasonable cost.

Over my decades in the financial services and investment fields, I constantly found myself wanting to bring harmony to various situations, from an individual’s personal financial plan to the way two parties were communicating. That desire for harmony, combined with the fact that I’d wanted to explore the niche of divorce financial planning from early on in my career, put me on the path toward becoming a CFP® Certificant, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst​® and mediator. My background and extensive training, combined with a BS in Business Management and MBA with a Specialization in Finance, allow me to guide clients successfully through an amicable divorce process.

I work with individuals or couples, taking you through the entire divorce process, or helping with the financial aspects only. I can serve as a neutral third-party mediator, or work in conjunction with another mediator, or with your attorney(s) to perform due diligence on your marital finances.

Please give me a call so we can schedule your free consultation to determine how I can best assist you.