Nancy has been a financial advisor and planner since 1999 and specialized as a Divorce Financial Planner in her company, Smarter Divorce Solutions from 2011 to 2024. In 2016, Nancy founded the Divorce Financial Planner Training Center to offer continuing education to CDFA® holders nationwide. She’s also a financial planner with Strategic Portfolio Solutions.

Nancy is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®), and is trained in both mediation and Collaborative Divorce.  Nancy was the 2024 Chair of the Board for the Institute of Divorce Financial Analysts and was also a board member in 2014, 2023 and 2025. She was the 2023 President of the Collaborative Professionals of Phoenix and a prior board member 2017-2019 and 2024. She was the Finance Director for the National Association of Women Business Owners, 2014 and 2015, the 2015 NAWBO Business Owner of the Year, the 2014 Finalist in the BBB Business Ethics Awards,

She is the author of “Divorce Financial Planning; Building a Successful Niche Business”, Divorce Is Not For Dummies; How To Cover Your Assets  and the co-author of The Stress-Free Divorce, Volume 2.

Her articles have been published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, U.S.News, Barron’s, CNBC, InvestmentNews, Huffington Post, DivorcedMoms.com, and she was the featured advisor in Morningstar Magazine.

In her free time, she enjoys hiking, riding motorcycles, and spending time with her 4 children and 6 grandchildren.

Kristen Shearin is a practicing family law attorney in North Carolina, a Certified Family Financial Mediator, and a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. 

Kristen loves to educate her clients and empower them to make the decisions about their case and their financial future. She firmly believes in financial transparency and that once both parties understand the financial realities and implications of divorce, settlement options are pretty straightforward. While she is an experienced litigator, she is a strong advocate of the mediation process, and prefers to settle her cases without litigation. As a mediator and an attorney, she has been on both sides of the table negotiating settlements, she brings a wealth of courtroom experience to any situation, and uses that experience to get her clients reasonable and fair outcomes as quickly and painlessly as possible.

Kristen is married to an airline pilot, has two children in college, and a yellow lab that she loves to take everywhere.

Background

Certifications and Training

- Attorney at Law, licensed in NC
- Certified Divorce Financial Analyst
- Certified Family Financial Mediator
- Collaborative Law Practitioner

Honors and Awards

- Top 40 Under 40, National Academy of Family Law Attorneys
- Commitment to Justice Award, Safe Alliance
- 50 Most Influential Women in Mecklenburg County (Charlotte, NC), Mecklenburg Times
- Outstanding Firm Pro Bono Service Award, Council for Children’s Rights

Professional Associations and Memberships

- North Carolina State Bar
- Mecklenburg County Bar Association
- Institute of Certified Divorce Financial Analysts
- North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission

Pro Bono Activities

- North Carolina Judicial Legislative Committee-Equitable Distribution Committee
- North Carolina Judicial Legislative Committee-Domestic Violence Committee, Co-Chair, 2019-2021
- Charlotte Triage Partnership-Human Trafficking Volunteer Attorney
- Council for Children’s Rights, Volunteer Attorney
- Safe Alliance, Legal Representation Project, Volunteer Attorney