Our St. Louis readers are no doubt aware of the recent divorce between Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries after a whopping 72 days of marriage. In the last week, news broke that comedian Russell Brand, singer Katy Perry's husband of 14 months, filed for divorce. He apparently cited "irreconcilable differences" in his filing.

One of the interesting things to see about celebrity divorce is how much money and financial wrangling is often involved. When there are millions of dollars in assets, there can be a lot at stake in a marriage. Even with short marriages, there can be a lot of money at stake. And the longer the marriage, the better the chance the financial ties run deep.

Of course, the average person seeking divorce will not have millions of dollars at stake, but protecting oneself with respect to the financial consequences of divorce is important. For this reason, divorce preparation is essential to coming out of divorce with minimal damage. The following are several tips for this preparation.

When preparing for divorce, it is wise to make sure you have access to all your financial records, including bank statements, investment and retirement records, loans, credit cards and other debts prior to breaking the news to your partner. This will allow you to better track significant changes or shifting of assets by your spouse.

Another tip is that, when working with your attorney, you should disclose anything that could harm your situation. This could be anything from extramarital affairs, criminal activity, to psychological problems. This can affect both financial and custody matters.

A third tip is to carefully follow your attorney's advice. While you understand your personal situation with your partner best, your attorney has more knowledge of the legal implications of your personal situation. Working together, you can come out with a best possible outcome, but only if you come up with a game plan and stick to it.

Source: The Washington Times, "Katy Perry and Russell Brand: What to Consider When You're Considering Divorce," Myra Fleischer, January 9, 2012.