Divorce is hard, and often ugly, and you would do well to avoid mistakes that others have made, and that can cost you dearly! Concentrate on negotiating an equitable divorce settlement, and make sure you can live with what your divorce agreement. Here are just a few mistakes to try to avoid when divorcing:
Common Divorce Settlement Mistakes
- Ending spousal support: Do not agree to an end date for spousal support or alimony if it is not required by law that you do so. If you do, you may find that you continued to need spousal support far beyond the date that you agreed to, and you will have no recourse at that point. Keep alimony arrangements as open-ended as possible.
- Not having your own attorney: Do not use the same attorney that your spouse is using during a divorce proceeding. Your spouse’s attorney is being paid to watch out for your spouse’s interests, and you will not be receiving adequate representation if you try to control costs by having the same attorney.
- Forgetting to clean up accounts: If you and your spouse have joint accounts, make sure each account is only in one of your names, and do this during the divorce process. Any debts that your spouse takes on as a result of the divorce, but that remain in your name could ultimately affect your credit. If your spouse defaults on any of these accounts, your credit will suffer, so be sure that only your accounts remain in your name.
- Not creating a budget: Develop a realistic post-divorce budget, based on your new expenses, spousal support, debt repayment, child support, etc. Developing a budget during the divorce process will help you know what you need, what to fight for, and what to avoid.
- Failing to examine assets: The first reaction in a divorce is to fight for all the assets you possibly can, but that can be a mistake. All of your assets, even the most valuable ones, cost money to maintain. If your budget after divorce does not allow for maintenance on homes, boats, and cars, don’t fight for them during the divorce proceedings.
- Forgetting college expenses: If you have children headed to college, or already in college, do them (and yourself) a favor by negotiating their college tuition now. College can be too much for any parent to pay for alone, so be sure to include this in your negotiations.
- Not reading the fine print: No matter how exhausting the process has been, do not sign a divorce agreement without reading and completely understanding every single word. If you don’t understand, or think you don’t agree to a portion of the settlement, do not agree to it by signing!
Getting Help
Working with a qualified lawyer can help you to avoid a lot of the common divorce settlement mistakes. Make sure you have representation so your interests are taken care of and so you don't end up leaving the marriage with less than you should under the law.
