By: Josh Welsh, InvestmentNews, featuring Samantha Garcia, CFP®, AIF®, CDFA®, Senior Wealth Advisor at Halbert Hargrove
‘I want to help people figure out what the future looks like and make sure they’re going to be OK,’ says advisor at Halbert Hargrove.
Ask Samantha Garcia why she decided to specialize in divorce at Halbert Hargrove and she’ll laugh, saying it’s what she’s asked all the time, since she’s not divorced herself.
So yeah, why get a certified divorce credential when I’m happily married?
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Garcia, who’s a senior wealth advisor at the Long Beach, California-based firm, and one of three advisors at the firm who’s a certified divorce financial analyst, noted that while she hasn’t had to go through a divorce, she has seen divorces occur among her friends and family.
“I’ve seen how difficult it is,” she said.
“There’s a lot of nuances around it and really getting the understanding. Seeing friends and family struggle through it and not know what resources are out there, or how to go about making decisions around it, really was that catalyst for me.”
Garcia also highlights that while the industry is seeing more advisors earning their CDFA designation, it’s important for advisors to ask for help if they don’t know something when advising a client on a divorce, because there are nuances, such as qualified domestic relations orders, that can cause damage to clients.
