“After 38 years of marriage, I was blindsided when my husband asked me for a divorce,” says Patricia, 61. “I didn’t see it coming and was shocked at how fast and efficiently he left the life we had built together.”

Like many women of Patricia’s generation, she had made the decision to stay home and raise their children while her husband worked. As a lawyer, he had provided well for his family. Patricia knew that they had savings and were set to retire in the next few years. However, as she’d taken a back seat in the financial planning discussions, she wasn’t 100% sure what their assets were. She just knew that their house was paid for and that they had investments of some kind.