Is your marriage going poorly? If so and you’ve found yourself here on our blog, then you’re probably thinking about divorce. But the mere thought of ending your marriage can riddle you with fear, stress, and uncertainty. After all, you might not have a firm grasp of how the process will play out or how your spouse will react.
One way to ease your concerns is to take control of the situation. And that starts now rather than once you file your divorce petition. So, let’s take a look at what you can do right now to better prepare yourself for your impending divorce.
Steps you can take right now to ready yourself for divorce
We know that you might be on unsteady footing as you get ready to head into divorce. But you can make the process easier by identifying concrete steps to take leading up to the formal process. Here are some that could end up proving beneficial in your divorce case:
- Focus on your kids: Child custody is probably going to be a contentious issue in your divorce. Therefore, you don’t want to give the impression that you’re uninvolved in your children’s lives or that you have a bad relationship with them. So, try to be active in their school activities and social events. Also, avoid talking badly about your spouse when around your kids, as these statements will likely come back to haunt you during your divorce proceedings. Remember, you want to insulate your children from the divorce process as much as possible.
- Inventory assets: Through your divorce, you should secure your fair share of the marital estate. However, determining what constitutes the marital estate can be challenging once your divorce is filed, as it might be hard for you to physically access them, or your spouse might end up hiding assets. So, the sooner you can start documenting these assets the better off you’ll be during the property division process.
- Figure out how much your spouse makes: If you can figure out how much your spouse makes, then you’ll be better positioned to argue for spousal support and child support. Reviewing bank statements and pay stubs can be helpful here.
- Make copies of key documents: There are certain documents that could be crucial to your divorce, including bank and retirement account statements, tax returns, employee benefits statements, and insurance policies. If you don’t make copies of these records, then you might struggle to access them amidst your divorce, which can put you at a disadvantage as you try to argue for what you deserve.
- Save an emergency fund: Once you file for divorce, money issues might arise. You might be cut off from marital funds, and you may need to secure a new place to live. All of this can put you in a financial bind, which is why it’s a good idea to save up some funds for yourself that you can use while you wait for your divorce to play out.
- Change beneficiary designations: If you have estate planning documents, then you’ll want to make sure you modify them to remove your spouse. Otherwise, they might end up inheriting from you even though your relationship is finished.
- Take care of yourself: Divorce is incredibly stressful. You need to take care of yourself from a physical, emotional, and psychological standpoint if you want to successfully get through your marriage dissolution. So, seek out therapy, eat a balanced diet, and make sure you get plenty of rest.
Protect yourself throughout your divorce
There’s a lot to think about as you ready yourself to enter the legal arena for your divorce. Even though it can be stressful, and the uncertainty can leave you feeling overwhelmed, you shouldn’t fear the process.
Instead, you should be optimistic about taking control of your future. To successfully do so, you’ll need to be adequately prepared and armed with strong legal arguments, which is why now is the time to get to work to protect your interests and your future.