Following a divorce, one spouse may become a bit more financially dependent upon the other. In order to avoid do this, you'll need to make sure that you avoid some of the most common financial-related mistakes that many tend to fall prey to when getting divorced. Here are three financial blunders you will want and need to avoid when negotiating your divorce settlement:

1. Overlooking the Power of Mediation.

The best thing you and your spouse can do is to work together to reach a fair settlement for divorce-related issues. This includes everything from child custody and support to property division. This saves time and money while limiting the emotional aggravation that is felt. To go about this the right way and to ensure that each party is fully protected, it is best to consider mediation. This is when a neutral third-party comes in and helps you both reach a voluntary agreement. Not only does it help you reach fair settlements on your own, it offers much more flexibility in the decisions than the actual court would.

2. Failing to Provide an Accurate Budget.

When you are seeking alimony, it is crucial that you be able to produce a very clear, accurate look at your finances. If you turn in a budget that you find out later won't even cover all of the household bills, it may be difficult to get the spousal support amount increased. Therefore, you need to ensure that you examine your budget carefully to create the most accurate budget. A financial expert may be able to help you more accurately do this.

3. Forgetting to Update Estate and Retirement Plans.

Following your divorce, you may be so overwhelmed at the thought of the divorce being finalized that you may forget some important steps you need to take post-divorce. Your life insurance policy needs a new beneficiary. Your IRA does as well. You can't forget to update your will. These are all extremely important because everything is probably going to your spouse at the current time. If you were to die without changing these things, the money and assets would still go to your ex rather than your children or your new partner. The information in estate documents will generally overrule the fact that you got a divorce. Your attorney can help you ensure these changes are made in a timely manner.

While there are a lot of mistakes made during a divorce financially, these three are probably the ones that you should be most concerned about. A divorce attorney, like Kenneth J. Molnar Attorney,  will help point you in the right direction and help you get what you deserve in the divorce settlement, but it will be up to you once the divorce is finalized to get back on track with your own finances so that you don't have to solely rely on your ex's money.