Mistakes to Avoid in Divorce

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Divorce

When progressing through a divorce in Illinois, spouses have to make important financial decisions. This must be done while tolerating a great deal of emotional stress. Many times this volatile situation can cause people to make unnecessary yet consequential mistakes. A substantial mistake made regarding finance is operating and making decisions without having ample information. Without the information required to make sound decisions, the outcome of a divorce can be left to chance, or even worse, the other spouse.

Budgeting Through Divorce

Another common mistake made when spouses are going through a divorce is not adequately budgeting. When spouses are married, they become accustomed to having the financial resources of two incomes. When a marriage ends in divorce, the spouses are forced to adapt their financial decision making to address the fact that they no longer have the other spouse’s income available. Not making a conscious and focused consideration about the decreased income that spouses have available to them can lead to serious financial shortcomings that an Illinois court may not be able to rectify.

Why Patience Matters

It is common to simply want to get the divorce process over with. Pursuing short-term goals while ignoring the long-term impacts of decisions made through the divorce process is fraught with peril. This can cause problems with property division and, depending on where the spouses are in their professional careers, the lack of foresight can seriously endanger their retirement plans. For example, simply expecting the courts to split the value of marital property down the middle in a 50/50 split is a mistake. It is in your best interest to take the time to have marital property adequately appraised and have an experienced DuPage County divorce attorney defend your rights and tirelessly pursue your interests. For example, if one spouse started a business while the couple was married it is legally unsound to assume that each spouse will be granted 50% of the valuation of that business. It is understandable to want this emotionally fraught experience behind you as quickly as possible but it is in your long-term best interest to take a methodical and precise approach to divorce proceedings.

Detailed Analysis of Divorce Process

Whether the divorce is contested or uncontested, it is in your best interest to make sure you are as detail oriented as possible through the divorce proceedings. There are a litany of issues that have far reaching consequences that are often not adequately addressed when going through a divorce. Those issues include:

• A failure to consider mediation
• Trying to punish your spouse
• Ignoring a common enemy, the I.R.S.
• Producing an inaccurate budget
• Ignoring the impact of taxes in a divorce settlement
• Not evaluating settlement proposals
• Emotional attachment to assets subject to negotiations
• Ignoring inflation
• Not maintaining accurate and updated estate documents
• Failing to ensure a divorce settlement

All of the issues above can have a sizable impact on not only the outcome of your divorce but your long term financial interest as well. Failing to consider mediation can overlook a far more cost effective and less contentious option to traditional divorce proceedings. Trying to punish your spouse can come back to hurt you as courts generally are not responsive to punitive measures in a divorce. There are tax benefits accompany marriage, when that marriage ends in divorce, not paying attention to how your taxes are affected can lead to unanticipated financial problems later down the road.

DuPage County Divorce Lawyers

If you are considering getting a divorce the first step is to talk with a compassionate and experienced DuPage County divorce lawyer. There are many legal complexities that have their genesis in a divorce proceeding, do not face these alone. Contact the Law Office of Matthew  M. Williams, P.C. at 630-409-8184 to schedule your initial consultation.

Source:

http://www.divorcenet.com/states/new_york/15_critical_mistakes_in_divorce