WiserPath Advisors

Phase 2 of 4

Phase 2 - Assessment: A Structured Review of What the Plan Depends On

Once the inventory from the Pause phase is established, the work moves into Assessment.

Assessment is a structured review of the specific elements that determine whether a proposed housing path in divorce is executable. It does not produce a loan approval or a legal conclusion. It produces a structural picture, an honest, organized account of where things stand and what the housing decision actually depends on.

Every element that affects whether the plan will hold is examined. Each is assessed for whether it is clear, conditional, or still unresolved. The result is a complete structural account of the housing situation, the foundation on which Tactical Strategy is built.

Section 01

What Assessment Covers

  • Income

    What income is available, what is documentable, and what will be usable for mortgage qualification purposes given the specific dynamics of the divorce. Income that looks sufficient on paper may not meet lender continuity or documentation requirements. Income that is in transition, due to employment changes, support orders being established, or other divorce-related adjustments, is evaluated for when and how it becomes usable.

  • Credit

    Where each relevant party's credit profile stands, what may have shifted during separation, and what needs to be addressed before a financing application is submitted. Credit issues identified at the Assessment phase are addressable. Credit issues discovered at the application stage are timeline problems.

  • Equity

    What the home is actually worth against a current or estimated appraisal, what the outstanding loan balance is, and what the resulting equity position means for any buyout, refinance, or sale being considered. Assumed equity is identified and flagged. Verified equity is confirmed.

  • Support

    Whether support income that is part of the housing plan meets the continuity and documentation requirements lenders apply. Support that has just been ordered, recently modified, or inconsistently paid may not be usable for qualification purposes even if the monthly amount appears sufficient.

  • Title

    How title currently stands, how and when it needs to transfer, and whether the sequence of title and financing decisions is structured so that each step can be completed before the next one depends on it.

  • Debt

    The full debt picture for each party, how joint obligations are being separated, and how the resulting debt-to-income ratios affect financing options.

  • Liquidity

    Whether the resources required to execute the housing plan, down payment, closing costs, buyout funding, reserves, are available and accessible within the relevant timeline.

  • Timing

    Whether the legal timeline and the financing timeline are aligned, and where sequencing decisions need to be made to give the plan the best chance of being executable when the time comes to act.

Section 02

Common Questions About the Assessment Phase

What does the Assessment phase produce?

The Assessment phase produces a clear structural picture of the housing situation: what is verified, what is conditional, and what is still unresolved across each of the elements that determine whether the housing path is executable.

It is not a loan pre-approval, a legal opinion, or a financial plan. It is a structured account of the housing-specific realities that the professional team needs to understand before the housing decision is treated as settled. Learn more about how this supports the professional team at /professionals.

What happens if the Assessment reveals the proposed housing plan is not executable?

If the Assessment reveals that the proposed housing path has structural problems, an income that will not qualify, equity that is insufficient for a required buyout, a timeline that cannot be met, that information is communicated clearly, along with what would need to change for the plan to become executable.

This is the most valuable moment in the process. A structural problem identified at the Assessment phase can be addressed before the agreement reflects it. The same problem identified after the decree is signed is a significantly more difficult situation. The goal of Assessment is to find these issues at the point when they can still be resolved. Learn more at /work-with-me.

What comes after the Assessment phase?

After Assessment produces the structural picture, the process moves into Phase 3, Tactical Strategy. Tactical Strategy takes the verified information and the identified conditions from Assessment and uses them to build a realistic housing plan: which options are genuinely available, what each one depends on, and what order decisions need to happen in for the plan to hold. Learn more at /the-wiser-path/tactical-strategy.

Continue

Previous: Phase 1 - PauseNext: Phase 3 - Tactical Strategy