When emotions are involved, it is very easy to overlook something. Now, imagine the emotions involved in a heated divorce and how easy it is to either overlook something or make an outright concession out of frustration. We want you to avoid this, so we have put together some divorce tips on how to avoid the most common mistakes in divorce.
- Closing off communications – putting aside anger and resentment is not easy for anyone, especially in the case of divorce. Unfortunately, acting on these emotions and closing off communications with your spouse is only going to make matters worse, in numerous ways. First and foremost, it will drag out the divorce because negotiations will come to a standstill. This will cost you both more money as well as creating even more resentment between the two of you. Not only do you need to communicate, but you need to do so in a peaceful and reasonable manner.
- Becoming adversaries – this just follows up on some of the points we mentioned above. If you go into the divorce with the attitude that you are going to “get even,” there is little chance the divorce will be satisfactorily settled anytime soon. If you two are not able to sit down and discuss things reasonably, consider hiring a mediator to help with negotiations.
- Not hiring the proper attorney – do your due diligence when looking at divorce attorneys. Some attorneys are more amicable to negotiating while other attorneys are known for their confrontational manner. This works great on TV, but not in real life. If your attorney refuses to budge, all he or she is going to do is cost you more money in legal fees.
- Not understanding equitable distribution – some assets will have a higher value when realized than the actual current day cash value. This can hurt you during the settlement process, as you may make some concessions based on the cash value. You and your ex may walk away with what looks like a 50/50 split, but it may end up being more like 70/30 when the true value of the assets is calculated.
- Not addressing current joint accounts – have you ever heard a story about one person running up credit card debt or emptying out bank accounts on their soon-to-be ex? When the two of you decide to get divorced, any joint bank accounts should be liquidated and the proceeds split. If there are joint credit card accounts, pay them off or freeze them so either party cannot use the cards. Investment accounts are much trickier and will more than likely become part of the settlement (see equitable distribution above). Because there may be some stipulations attached to these accounts, discuss this with your attorney prior to closing any accounts.
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