Divorce Planning

No matter what people say, divorce is never easy. It is hard to go through and hard for people to understand. Harder still because they need to understand it during the most difficult time of their lives.

The framework of a divorce, the laws that provide the procedure and the rights of the respective parties, are complicated. It gets more and more complicated every year. The facts of your case, the approach of your attorney, the philosophies of your particular judge, and even your personality will give you a divorce its unique shape.

Given all its complexity, divorce law is concerned only with a few subjects. Dissolution of marriage is concerned with child support, alimony, division of property, (equitable distribution) and custody of children (parenting plan). Please refer to these subjects in other articles on this website. My purpose, here, is to begin to give you some guidance, divorce planning, should you decide to proceed with your divorce.

Unless your case is entirely simple, (no children or property) and not contested, it is a good idea to be represented by an attorney. The traditional method to find an attorney is by word-of-mouth. A family member, a friend or associate may have used an attorney in the past and might make a recommendation to you. These days, in our very busy mobile society, people are starting to use the Internet to find goods, services, and professionals such as lawyers. The best attorneys are not necessarily the most expensive, or the cheapest. Quite often on attorneys websites you will usually find client reviews. You should definitely personally interview several attorneys until you find the one that you feel comfortable with. The perspective attorney should be both knowledgeable and professional and should be able to answer all your questions.

Before you file for divorce and certainly before you consider informing your spouse of your plans, you should gather and preserve as many financial documents as possible. This is especially true for four accounts that may be only in your spouse's name since you will not have access to these accounts. Later, it may be difficult to obtain these documents from your spouse and will have to use expensive discovery methods.

It is a good idea to withdraw at least one half of the liquid assets prior to filing and prior to letting your spouse know of your decision to file this is especially true if your income is substantially less than your spouse while your case is pending you will need money for your living expenses and unfortunately money to finance your case. Also, whatever money you take control of can no longer be dissipated by your spouse you, of course, have a duty to disclose these assets after the cases filed. You also might consider closing any charge accounts that your spouse has access to. This will prevent your spouse from charging on the accounts and under the principle of equitable distribution you would be responsible for half of those charges until your divorce cases filed.

You are about to file for divorce. Should you tell your spouse before you file. If there is any chance that your spouse may become violent you should not tell him or her. Also, if your spouse may avoid service of process you should not tell of your plans. Otherwise you can discuss your plans soon before service, usually the night before. If you tell your spouse too soon and you divorce is not going to be amicable, there is a danger that your spouse might start arranging finances, etc. To your disadvantage.

At the law offices of West Palm Beach divorce lawyer Jessica Mishali, we strive to protect your rights with professional excellence. We are aware how difficult and emotionally taxing a divorce proceeding is and we will handle your case with the utmost compassion. We strive to earn your trust. Please contact us at (561) 833-2772 for a consultation or contact us online.