Issues regarding money send up red flags in a marriage, and the financial problems couples struggle with can easily snowball over the years. Many married couples fail to compromise, especially when it comes to making financial decisions.

Here are five money-related conflicts that frequently result in divorce.

1. Different priorities

All marriages have their ups and downs. Nevertheless, if your union seems to have a greater number of bad days than good ones, marriage counseling may be an option. While couples therapy usually does not fix everything, it may be a convenient way to solve many of the problems with your marriage.

You can probably trust your marriage counselor to do his or her best. If you and your spouse commit to working with the counselor, you may improve your marriage. Still, couples counseling does not always stave off divorce. Here are three signs marriage counseling may not be working for you.

1. Your spouse is already done

The breakup of a family unit is difficult for everyone, but perhaps most traumatic for younger, school-age children.

Traditional litigation can be especially stressful for children, but they fare much better when parents choose the less adversarial approach known as collaborative divorce.

Understanding how it works

Your home is important to both you and your spouse. If you are heading for divorce, though, you must decide what happens to the property. After all, continuing to occupy the residence with your ex-spouse after your marriage ends is probably not possible.

In Texas, couples have some options for dividing marital property. To stay in the home, a divorcing spouse may decide to buy out his or her partner’s ownership interest. Commonly, though, couples choose to sell the house and split the proceeds. If you go this route, you may want to consider taking the following four steps.

1. Think about occupancy

Would it not seem more reasonable for you and your spouse to control the outcome of your divorce rather than submit to the decisions of a judge?

You can choose mediation, a type of alternate dispute resolution, or ADR, which is growing in popularity as an alternative to litigation.

Choosing mediation