Going Through a Divorce… Knowing When to Seek Professional Help
Divorce is often a traumatic experience that strikes to the heart of families and individuals. It is often a difficult time not only emotionally but also financially. Those financial difficulties often make it harder to admit that you need professional help. To save money, many people try to handle the legal aspects of their divorce themselves. This is not usually the wisest course. Even if you and your spouse agree on the terms of your divorce, it is often prudent to have an attorney draft the marital settlement agreement and the final divorce decree. This can avoid so many problems down the road.
Some examples of typical problems that arise when people try to go it alone are: one spouse deeds the house or the marital residence to the other. However, because appropriate precautions are not taken, the non owning spouse remains liable on the mortgage and may suffer credit and other problems if the owning spouse defaults. Do you know someone this has happened to? It happens all to frequently and could be avoided with proper representation. Another problem area is that alimony or child support payments are often not secured either by life insurance or an income deduction order. Again, hiring an attorney to help you through these problems initially can save you money and hours of heartache down the road. In addition, if there are children involved, a well thought out and drafted visitation schedule can make future communications between spouses easier and reduce the stress and trauma to the children.
The more complicated the divorce, the more likely the need for legal representation. To help your lawyer represent you, you should make sure that your financial affairs are in order and gather all necessary financial information, including a list of assets and debts, all on going monthly expenses and income records. A well organized client makes a lawyer’s job so much easier.
In addition to legal help, during this period of stress and trauma, you may want to receive some psychological counseling to help you through this rough time. Psychologists and attorneys can often work together to make the transition from married to single again as smooth as possible.
Divorce is usually not easy. Everyone needs help now and then getting through these rough times. Martial your available resources and take advantage of the help available.