Divorce has been called "one of the most stressful experiences an adult will every go through, second only to the death of a child." If your marriage is broken beyond repair, you probably get this one.
Perhaps you and your spouse married young, grew up and grew apart. Or, perhaps one of you fell in love with an old flame on Facebook, or a co-worker. Maybe your best friend turned into your worst enemy.
Whatever the reason for your breakup, divorce has a way of making perfectly rational people think and act irrationally. But still, you have to do your best to make sound decisions, otherwise you could fall into the trap of making some costly divorce mistakes. Our Nassau County divorce attorney explains what you should avoid during your divorce.
You are at a Crossroads
Whenever a couple decides to divorce, they are at a crossroads. They can be bitter and try to get revenge, or they can put their heads together and seek to reach a fair and reasonable settlement.
No matter how you feel about your ex, you want to consider the ultimate goal: to protect as much wealth as possible.
The best way to achieve a cost-effective divorce is for you and your soon-to-be ex to agree to work towards a fair divorce settlement as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Of course, in order to accomplish this, you both need to be open and honest with each other about your income, assets and resources. Hiding assets will lead to mistrust, and possibly divorce litigation. Nobody wins – instead you both have to be transparent.
When both spouses are able to work together to reach an agreement, it is called an "uncontested divorce." It doesn't mean that they agree on everything, but it means that they negotiate until they reach an agreement.
In an uncontested divorce, the couple negotiates in a non-adversarial setting with the professional guidance of their attorneys and depending on their wealth, with the assistance of financial experts.
Benefits of an uncontested divorce:
- The spouses maintain control over their assets.
- The spouses decide on a child custody arrangement.
- The spouses are NOT at the mercy of a judge.
- It's faster and less expensive than a contested divorce.
- It's less stressful on all parties, including the children.
Essentially, if the spouses cannot reach a divorce settlement, their case will be decided by a judge who does not know the couple or the details of their family life.
In this situation, the judge would make decisions on property and debt division based on New York's laws of equitable distribution, and child-related decisions would be based on the best interests of the children.
Need a Nassau County divorce attorney? Contact our firm for a free initial case evaluation. We look forward to hearing from you.