Had Enough? How To Prevent Problems In Your Divorce

If you've reached the decision that it's time for a divorce, be prepared for the long-haul. Divorces aren't won overnight. In fact, divorces are seldom won at all. The truth is that divorce is a system of give and take, and there's rarely an actual winner. However, that doesn't mean that you can't come out of your divorce in good shape. The trick to that is to prepare yourself and be ready to take action to protect your interests. Here are three steps that will help you through your divorce.

Be Open to Mediation

When it comes to divorce, the last thing you want is a drawn-out process that ends up in court. In fact, you want to avoid court at all costs, if possible. Going through the court system for a divorce is a long, drawn-out process that can become quite costly and stressful. To avoid court, you need to be open to the thought of mediation. Through mediation, you and your spouse can work out the sticking points of your divorce. Not only that, but mediation often allows for a more amicable divorce.

Don't Try to Hide Things

When you sit down with your attorney, you'll need to be open and honest about everything. Your attorney can't help you if you're hiding things from them. Keeping information from your attorney such as hidden bank accounts, infidelities, and other issues, can come back to cause big problems for you later. To avoid those problems, don't try to hide things from your attorney, even if you think they'll hurt your case. After all, your attorney can't help you if they don't have all the information in front of them.

Know What You Own

It's not uncommon to not know everything that you own. However, if you enter into a divorce not knowing what you own, or not being able to prove that you own it, can hurt you when it comes time for settlement talks. Before you file for divorce, take the time to take an inventory of everything you own. In fact, take pictures of everything you own. You'll need evidence of your assets when it comes to time to divide everything up. While you're taking pictures of the things you own, be sure to include something with a date on it. The dated item in the picture will create a time stamp that you can use to prove the timeline of ownership. Current newspapers, utility bills, or other items that have a visible date will work well for creating a time stamp. For more information, contact a team of professionals such as Armstrong Betker and Schaeffer PLC.