Catherine Shanahan

Catherine Shanahan is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) and Co-Founder of My Divorce Solution, bringing more than three decades of experience in financial services and divorce financial planning. Her work focuses on helping individuals understand the financial implications of divorce so they can make informed, data-driven decisions about asset division, income planning, and long-term financial stability.

Catherine’s financial career began in 1988, when she earned her Series 6 and Series 66 FINRA licenses and held life insurance licenses across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and South Carolina. For 25 years she worked in financial services building deep expertise in investment products, retirement planning, and insurance before redirecting her career toward divorce financial planning after experiencing divorce herself.

After raising a blended family of five children, two biological and three stepchildren, Catherine recognized how overwhelming and confusing the financial side of divorce can be for individuals and families. She became a CDFA, earned her Divorce Mediation Certification, completed Interdisciplinary Collaborative Family Law training, and became a certified Professional Daily Money Manager through the American Association of Daily Money Managers.

Catherine co-founded My Divorce Solution with Karen Chellew to change the way financial information is gathered, organized, and analyzed during divorce. Together they created the MDS Financial Portrait™, a comprehensive financial framework that compiles marital assets, liabilities, supporting documents, lifestyle budgets, and financial analysis into a single organized, attorney-ready report. This process helps clients clearly understand their financial options and the potential consequences of settlement decisions before entering mediation or litigation.

Through My Divorce Solution, Catherine works closely with individuals, attorneys, and mediators to analyze complex financial matters such as retirement assets, real estate, business interests, executive compensation, support calculations, tax considerations, and long-term financial projections. She acknowledges the emotional value clients attach to assets and debts, then helps them transform that thinking into fact-based financial decisions.  This ensures they can walk into negotiations with their eyes open instead of relying on emotional guesses.

Catherine is also co-host of WeChat Divorce, the #1 podcast for financial divorce preparation, and a frequent speaker, educator, and podcast guest on topics including financial organization in divorce, financial literacy for women, and strategies for reducing conflict by improving financial transparency.

Catherine’s mission is straightforward: help individuals replace confusion and financial uncertainty with clarity, so they understand their options, see the trade-offs, and make confident decisions that protect their long-term stability, not just short-term peace.