—Iacono Law—
How to Protect Your Children During a Contentious Divorce
Sep 01, 2020
If you decide to divorce, you won’t be at a loss for things to do. Every decision you make will affect your future, so it’s critical that you keep a clear mind and move forward as efficiently as possible.
While you’re preparing for the process and caring for yourself, it’s a must that you also turn your attention to the well-being of your children. Even if everything goes as planned, divorce can affect your children in a variety of ways. Throw in conflict between you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse and you’ll soon realize that there’s a lot on your plate.
Here are some of the many ways to protect your children during a contentious divorce:
- Stay involved: You have a lot going on, but you should still stay involved with your children. Do the things that you’ve always done together. If you push them to the side now, it’s even easier for them to feel left out.
- Show a united front: It’s easier said than done, but showing a united front with your spouse will give your children peace of mind. You don’t have to go overboard. Just make it clear to your children that the two of you will always be there for them.
- Answer their questions: You never know what your children will ask about your divorce. However, even if you’re stunned, you must answer any questions that come your way. The worst thing you can do is leave your child hanging, as this gives their mind the opportunity to wander.
- Talk about the future: Just as you have questions and concerns about the future, your children will feel the same way. Talk to them about what’s changing, what’s staying the same and what you can do to make things as easy on them as possible.
It’s difficult enough to protect your children during an amicable divorce. Throw in a bundle of tension and stress, and you have a volatile situation.
Once you have a strategy in place for helping your children through your divorce, you’ll feel better about your ability to focus on yourself and protect your legal rights.
Some people who are filing for divorce aren’t ending their marriage because they hate their spouse. Instead, they realize that they have grown apart and that it is time to part ways. If you are in this position, you might find that a collaborative divorce can help you end the marriage in a faster manner.
Some people dismiss prenuptial agreements as a couple planning to fail in their marriage. In reality, creating a prenuptial agreement prior to marriage or agreeing to terms in a postnuptial agreement during a marriage can protect the marriage and benefit the spouses, as well as protect you in the event of a divorce.
Social media has made it easier than ever for people to remain in close contact with family, friends, colleagues and other acquaintances. It can also put a lot of strain on marriages, including airing spouses’ dirty laundry or facilitating extramarital affairs.
People get divorced for a variety of reasons, such as growing apart, infidelity or disputes over money and children. But a common theme is the loss of trust between the two partners.
According to an old adage, home is where the heart is. This is true in many divorce cases, where the spouses cannot agree on who gets to keep the family home. Understanding all options related to the marital home is critical when dealing with property division during divorce in Bronxville and other parts of New York.
Even the best-laid plans for a marriage may end up going awry in Bronxville. After all, spouses and the situations they face can change over time and lead to irreconcilable differences. When divorce is inevitable, being prepared financially is critical.
Divorce is hardly an easy process to navigate, both emotionally and financially. Making matters more complicated is the presence of many assets that are subject to property division , or the existence of high-value assets. However, collaborative divorce may offer a viable option for couples in Bronxville who wish to avoid the acrimony that usually characterizes divorce proceedings. In a traditional divorce proceeding, the discovery process often involves gamesmanship. This ends up increasing the length of the litigation as well as the financial cost of the proceeding. It can also take an emotional toll on both parties. However, collaborative divorce is a totally transparent process, which means that formal discovery does not exist. The two spouses agree that information and documents will be retrieved by the spouse who has the easiest access to them. Then, this information will be circulated between the two spouses and a team of professionals, including their separate attorneys, a neutral financial expert and a neutral mental health expert. In collaborative divorce, every team meeting is dictated by an agenda that all parties receive ahead of time so that there are no surprises. In addition, at the end of each meeting, the discussions are summarized in the form of minutes, and the parties reach agreements. Then, the spouses are given particular assignments to complete before their next meeting, during which additional agreements related to matters such as property division can be reached. An attorney in Bronxville can provide guidance on how to navigate a collaborative divorce proceeding in a manner that will be personally favorable in the long term. Source: jaxdailyrecord.com, “ The collaborative process can lead to divorce without drama “, Laura Giovannetti, May 22, 2017
Staying on top of finances after a divorce in Bronxville can be tricky for a number of reasons. First, the emotional roller coaster of divorce can make budgeting seem unimportant right away, and second, dealing with finances independently can be daunting for someone who is used to relying on a spouse to handle such a task. A couple of tips may help with managing finances after a divorce involving matters such as property division or spousal support has been finalized.