When “I” Becomes “Us”—Blending Your Lives and Your Finances

Preparing your financial life for whatever marriage may bring with financial planning for couples.

Most couples have no problem talking about their aspirations, work, family, friends, and current events. But they clam up when it comes to money. Discussing your personal finances openly and honestly is essential for your current and future financial life together.

Our financial planners who work with couples, help you have these conversations, offering objective advice and oversight to preserve, grow, and protect your wealth.

  • Facilitate the “money talk” to align your financial priorities, needs, and goals
  • Develop and execute a comprehensive financial plan that reflects your shared vision
  • Work with your attorney to draft a pre- or postnuptial agreement
  • Provide divorce financial consulting in the unfortunate event your marriage dissolves

Marriage is one of the most significant financial steps you will ever take. Be prepared for both the upside and downside through financial planning tailored specifically for high-net-worth couples.

Supporting Women’s Wealth Management During Times of Transition

We support women throughout their financial lives. If you’re divorcing, widowed, or coming into wealth through inheritance or a liquidity event, we can help you navigate your new reality with confidence and clarity.

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Supporting Women’s Wealth Management During Times of Transition

Objective Financial Advice Tailored to Your Marital Situation

Newly engaged. Happily married. Getting a divorce. Whatever phase you’re at as a couple, our financial advisors are here to help guide you through it.

Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

A stigma surrounds prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, but they’re actually a contract between two loving people. The time to plan is when you love and respect each other—it helps minimize discord and legal fees if you later divorce. Our financial advisors work closely with you and your attorney to ensure the agreement reflects your unique situation: family heirlooms, intellectual property, future earnings, or income disparity. We also make sure that you fully understand the financial terms.

Comprehensive Wealth Management for Couples

“I have no idea what our monthly spending is.” “I don’t know anything about our taxes.” “My spouse handles all that.” Most couples divide financial tasks, making good communication even more vital. The decisions you make in one area of your financial life impact the others. Our financial advisors actively engage you and your spouse in all aspects of your financial planning – cash flow analysis, taxes, estate planning, insurance, investments, and retirement planning. You both need to know and understand how your wealth is being managed, and the actions needed to keep you on track.

Divorce Financial Consulting

Emotions run high during a divorce, and asset classification (marital or separate) and subsequent division are hotly contested topics. Our knowledge in divorce financial consulting helps your attorney secure an equitable settlement for you. We are often called upon to:

  • Trace assets to determine classification as marital or separate property
  • Prepare net worth statements to provide an accurate picture of household wealth
  • Perform a lifestyle analysis to determine the family’s standard of living and assist in the determination of spousal and child support
  • Write or review tax clauses in the divorce agreement for assets that can’t be divided
  • Review prior tax returns to uncover hidden sources of income and much more.

Building a Solid Foundation with Marital Financial Planning

Studies show that the inability of spouses to communicate about their finances is the second leading cause of divorce (after infidelity). Our financial advisors can help you and your spouse to:

  • Establish financial “ground rules” and discuss expectations for spending and saving
  • Decide how premarital assets and debt will be handled
  • Create a mutually-agreeable plan for resolving competing financial goals and concerns
  • "Course-correct” to adjust your financial plan for life events like the birth of a child
  • Identify investment preferences, including the type of securities and risk profile
Ekaterina Klimentova

Partner / Ekaterina Klimentova

With two marriage-aged children of my own, I hear plenty of discussions about choosing a wedding planner, selecting a venue, and other plans for the big day, but I haven’t heard one discussion about choosing a financial advisor. In my opinion, discussing and planning for a couple’s financial future is of paramount importance."

Explore Our Offerings for Individuals and Families

Joseph Matus

Principal

Economic and Market Outlooks

What’s on Our Minds

Our outlook for 2026 is cautiously optimistic, driven by fiscal stimulus from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act boosting consumer spending, a likely pause in trade policy tensions ahead of midterm elections, and solid corporate fundamentals despite limited room for further equity valuation expansion.

Ralph Coutant

Senior Principal

Individuals and Families

Is the Stock Market Overvalued? What Investors Can Do

The last few years have been a good time for U.S. equity investors. But lately, people are questioning if we’re in another stock market bubble just waiting to burst.

Paul Chmielewski

Partner

Estate Planning

Simple Ways to Help Avoid Probate: Revocable Living Trusts and More

Probate is the legal process through which a deceased person’s estate is administered and distributed. While it serves an important function, it can also be time-consuming, expensive, and emotionally taxing. Fortunately, several strategies can be employed to help avoid probate and ensure a smoother transition of assets to loved ones.

Mariella Foley

Partner

Individuals and Families

Retirement Planning for Single Women: How to Prepare

Women already face gender-specific financial planning challenges. These include a longer life expectancy and a pay gap that results in lower salaries and lower lifetime savings unless they save a greater percentage of their salary.

Adam Sandler

Senior Principal

Individuals and Families

Private Placement Life Insurance

The concept behind PPLI is simple: by investing inside a life insurance policy, you take advantage of the favorable tax treatment granted to life insurance. Learn more.

Individuals and Families

The Year-End Financial Planning Checklist

The end of the year is the perfect time to review your financial plan with your advisor. The following checklist will help you take stock of your savings, investments, retirement planning, tax exposure, and risk management, so you can make more informed decisions about your strategy for the year to come.

Family Office

Webinar Recording: Tax Optimization and Thoughtful Wealth Planning for Liquidity Events

A liquidity event—whether from a business sale, IPO, merger, or other transaction—creates a unique opportunity to design plans that minimize tax exposure and shape a lasting legacy. Watch our webinar to learn more.

Constantine Mulligan

Partner

Corporations

The Role of Private Markets in Defined Contribution Plans

Defined contribution plans have attracted growing interest and media coverage amid recent U.S. Department of Labor actions and a noticeable shift in tone from Washington, D.C., regarding the role of private markets.

Mariella Foley

Partner

Individuals and Families

Splitting Retirement Accounts in Divorce

When going through a divorce, the process of dividing assets can be a frustrating and confusing one. Retirement assets are an important issue in any divorce proceeding, since, after the marital home, they often represent the largest category of marital assets to be divided in a divorce settlement.

Andrejs Pilajevs

Principal

Cross-Border Planning

A Comprehensive Guide for U.S. Expats in France

Few countries capture the imagination quite like France. From sipping coffee at a Parisian café to cycling through Bordeaux’s vineyards to retiring under the Provençal sun, France offers a rare blend of culture, history, cuisine, and quality of life. Relocating, however, involves more than a one-way ticket and a charming apartment. France has one of the world’s most sophisticated tax and legal systems.

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Our weekly “What's on Our Minds” provides a comprehensive overview of key market developments, economic data, and the Investment Office’s perspective.

Investing is a long-term commitment to your financial well-being. It’s about growing and safeguarding your wealth. Our disciplined, goal-oriented approach ensures your portfolio remains resilient in the face of market and economic fluctuations.

Our sophisticated estate and wealth transfer strategies help you preserve your legacy while minimizing tax burdens. Every recommendation is tailored to your specific needs, leveraging our extensive knowledge of estate, trust, gift, and tax regulations.

Successfully navigating the financial challenges that come with wealth necessitates planning, relevant advice, and a financial advisor who’s always in your corner. Cerity Partners provides all three.

Safeguard the financial security you and your loved ones have built. We assess your current risk exposure and develop customized strategies designed to protect the most vulnerable areas of your financial life.

We design and implement tax optimization strategies, including the creation of detailed tax projections and the preparation of personal, trust, and business tax returns.

Our family office services free you to focus on what matters most, providing a coordinated team of specialists dedicated to preserving, growing, and protecting your family's prosperity.

Our integrated retirement plan solutions effectively balance the unique perspectives of your HR and benefits teams, plan fiduciaries, senior leaders, and employees, helping all of them achieve their objectives.

Divorce marks the end of marriage but also the start of your new life. We can help you navigate the financial challenges of divorce and embrace the opportunities for building a thriving, secure future.

Just because your professional life is international doesn’t mean your financial life has to be complicated. Cerity Partners has extensive knowledge of U.S. and global tax laws and regulations, and we will work with you to preserve and grow your wealth here and abroad.