Divorce is hard enough without making avoidable mistakes. By steering clear of these three missteps, you can take on the necessary hard work of divorce without having to deal with unnecessary pitfalls and distractions.
Letting Emotions Guide You
It’s natural to feel anger toward your soon-to-be ex, but lashing out and “making them pay” can be a very expensive proposition. Forbes discusses the pitfalls of payback in its advice regarding financial divorce mistakes. Litigating to make a point may end up costing the other party in your divorce a lot, but it will cost you a lot as well. Seek pragmatic advice from an attorney who is not guided by emotion. Your future self will thank you for taking that advice.
Settling Too Soon
While an overly combative attitude can hurt you financially, you also don’t want to be too easygoing. Important matters such as property division and spousal support will play a large role in shaping your financial future. The divorce process is your chance to set the stage for a financially stable future, so don’t compromise on what is really important.
Sharing Too Much On Social Media
It’s tempting to share the ups and downs of life on social media, but this can be a serious mistake during a divorce. Some of the biggest social media mistakes include:
- Bragging: No matter how badly you want to share a picture of your new car or European vacation, this can send the wrong message regarding your financial situation. The other party’s legal counsel could take such posts and try to use them to build a case of hidden assets and income.
- Venting: It’s natural to have feelings of anger toward your soon-to-be ex, but sharing these feelings on Facebook could come back to haunt you. There are much healthier (and less public) ways of dealing with the negative feelings of divorce, including talking with close friends or consulting with a mental health professional.
- Oversharing: Everyone lets their hair down once in a while, but try to avoid publicly sharing accounts of drinking and partying. This is especially true if you are divorcing with minor children. Someone could try to spin these posts as evidence you are a careless or unfit parent.
You don’t want something you posted in a heightened state of passion to become Exhibit A in a courtroom divorce trial. Whenever possible, keep potentially sensitive information private!
Working Toward A Better Future
Avoiding these mistakes will not take all of the pain, stress and anxiety out of divorce, but they will improve the situation to some extent. Anything you can do to make this process less miserable will get you one step closer to a better, post-divorce future.