Anger Is A Lousy Chief Financial Officer
It is easy to find advice on divorce blogs and from divorced friends that the biggest mistake you can make during your divorce, especially if you are a stay-at-home mother, is being too conciliatory and not fighting hard enough for your fair share of the marital property. Yes, you will live through lean times during the first years after your divorce, and if you were out of the workforce for much of your marriage, you will have to rebuild your career while also handling parenting responsibilities on your own during your parenting time. Your goal should not be to fight tooth and nail for every penny or to punish your ex-spouse for abandoning you or betraying your trust. It also should not be to have the most conflict-free divorce possible; avoiding points of contention instead of discussing them and resolving them during your divorce is a recipe for post-divorce legal actions. Instead, your goal should be a feasible parenting plan and a divorce settlement that enables you to remain in the marital home with your children and rebuild your savings as you return to the workforce. A Boca Raton divorce lawyer can help you develop a realistic strategy for divorce mediation.
The Whole Family Loses If One Spouse Insists on Fighting About Every Penny
When you are living paycheck to paycheck while working full-time after your divorce, it is easy to wish that you had fought harder to get more alimony, especially if your ex-spouse’s income during your marriage was enough to support your entire family. Most likely, though, fighting would not have solved your problems.
Conflict during divorce costs money; divorce litigation leaves both spouses in a worse financial position, because there is only a finite amount of marital property to divide. If the court ordered your ex to pay you more alimony than he could afford, the money would not materialize out of nowhere; more likely, you would have had to go back to court to modify the alimony order, and both of you would be even worse off financially than before.
The better option is to think objectively about the value of your marital property and decide how much of it you and your ex-spouse will reasonably need to make ends meet. Remember that, when you consider your long-term financial wellbeing, remember that you will also be earning money when you return to work. Resolving your disagreements in mediation is stressful in that divorce is inherently stressful, but it will save you stress and financial hardships in the long-term. It beats going to trial or going back to court after your divorce is final to amend your marital settlement agreement.
Contact Schwartz | White About Choosing the Right Level of Conflict During Divorce
A South Florida family law attorney can help you choose your battles wisely during divorce; this way, you can avoid going to trial while also preventing post-divorce litigation. Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.
Source:
equitablemediation.com/blog/stay-at-home-mom-divorce
