How To Plan For Divorce
Divorce is a complex legal process involving many stages and a significant amount of paperwork. If you and your spouse were married for a long time, your lives may be completely intertwined, with joint accounts, shared property, and children. You must disconnect the life you have built together during a divorce, which can be complicated and emotionally challenging.
Having a comprehensive divorce plan can save a lot of time, money, and stress down the line. With adequate divorce preparation, you can hopefully speed up the divorce process, ensure your best interests are protected, and come to an amicable agreement without divorce court intervention.
The most important step in divorce preparation is to hire an experienced family law attorney who can offer strong legal advice and guide you smoothly through the process.
Call our law firm today to arrange an initial consultation at (832) 688-6606
How Should I Prepare for a Divorce Before Filing?
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Once the divorce process is underway, it can move quickly and become overwhelming. Staying organized can make it easier to stick to your priorities and navigate complicated issues.
One way to do this is to start a checklist. Keep track of your priorities, your main concerns and tasks you will need to do.
Divorce is rarely a straightforward process. The decision to get a divorce often comes after a lot of soul-searching, emotions, and tough conversations. Divorce emotionally and financially drains those involved, particularly when there are contested issues, children involved, and lots of financial assets.
Divorce preparation can make the process a lot smoother and help ensure that your interests are protected. Having a divorce planning checklist can help you organize your thoughts, understand the process better, and make informed decisions. It can also help ensure that your assets are better protected and that you have some financial independence after the divorce is finalized.
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Unfortunately, divorce involves a lot of paperwork. This important paperwork can include bank statements, evidence of property ownership, proof of fault in a fault-based divorce, evidence of separate bank accounts and property, and documents involving your children.
Having a divorce checklist for all necessary documents is extremely helpful. An experienced attorney can help you gather all legal documents relevant to your case and ensure that everything is filed correctly and on time.
Personal Information
You will need to provide certain personal information to initiate a divorce. This includes proof of residency, your social security number, your passport or another legal document, work information, and your full legal address. Your attorney can help you gather this information to submit during the divorce.
Protecting your personal information in a divorce is also extremely important. If you have shared passwords and personal information with your soon-to-be ex-spouse, such as passwords to your bank account, email, and other important accounts, you need to seek the advice of an experienced family law attorney regarding how to protect your information.
Important documents should also be kept separate from your spouse, like mail from your attorney. You should set up a separate post office box to receive documents and letters from your attorney during the divorce.
Evidence of Fault
If you decide to file for a fault-based divorce, on the grounds of adultery, cruelty, or abandonment, for example, you must provide substantial evidence proving the fault. The type of evidence you provide depends on the faults you are alleging.
If you are filing on adultery grounds, you must show that your spouse had voluntary sexual intercourse with another person during the marriage. The evidence you can provide includes text messages, photographs, bank statements, videos, witness testimony, or similar substantial proof.
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In many marriages, one person is more familiar with financial matters. If this is not you, you must start getting to know your financial situation.
Start by looking at your bank accounts, tax returns, investment portfolios and loans—review child-related expenses, including child care. Collect medical bills. Retain or make copies of statements and pay stubs. You might also consider working with a financial analyst and an attorney to get a sense of what you may receive in a divorce and how much money you need to support yourself as an individual.
The more familiar you are with your financial situation, the easier it can be to negotiate and secure a fair settlement.
Assess Personal Property
Texas is a community property state. This means that all property and assets gained during the marriage must be divided in a fair and just manner during a divorce. This does not mean an equal division of property, but what the courts view as equitable division. Any property that you acquired before the marriage is separate property.
Protecting your personal property and assets during a divorce is vital. This includes all your accounts, real estate, vehicles, investments, insurance policies, savings accounts, and your entitlements to shared property. You must provide evidence proving property ownership to ensure you get what you are entitled to and you do not lose out on assets.
Making a comprehensive inventory of all property involved in the marriage can help ensure that your spouse does not hide any assets. If there are hidden assets in the marriage, an experienced lawyer can help uncover these through an investigation. Your spouse could have hidden assets in offshore accounts, cryptocurrency, or in safety vaults.
Disclosure of financial information is made early on in the divorce process.. The necessary financial information includes your last two years of taxes, your last two payslips, credit card statements, and other financial paperwork. You must also note any debts that you owe, including rent or mortgage costs and credit card balances.
To identify your personal property and debts, get a copy of your credit report. Your credit report can help you identify debt and finances that you are responsible for. It is important to get your credit report before initiating a divorce, so you have an idea of your financial responsibilities.
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Even if you are not ready to talk about divorce, you should still have a support system in place to help you through this difficult time. You might reconnect with old friends and reprioritize time with your family. You might also start distancing yourself from shared or toxic friends who are unlikely to support you in the event of divorce.
You could also work with a therapist or counselor. This could be someone completely new to you, or it could be someone you saw previously with your spouse. Having this type of support during such a stressful event can be valuable for your emotional well-being.
Preparing for a divorce can be challenging. However, getting organized, getting informed, and finding support can allow you to feel more confident and ready to tackle whatever the future holds.
Legal Team
The law does not require you to hire a divorce attorney in Texas. However, we believe it is a necessity in all divorce cases. The divorce process is quite complicated and there are a significant amount of legal documents, marital issues, and complexities involved. The outcome of a divorce will affect you for the rest of your life and it is in your best interests to get the best outcome possible.
Experienced family law attorneys are the best people equipped to guide you through divorce proceedings, help you understand your legal rights and entitlements, negotiate an amicable and fair divorce decree, and protect the best interests of your children.
Without a strong legal team, you could settle for an agreement that is not in your best interests and experience severe stress trying to handle it all alone. Your legal team will help you gather all documentation pertaining to your case, including your financial statements, evidence of fault, and other relevant paperwork. They will submit all documentation on your behalf and ensure that you meet the legal requirements for divorce.
Emotional Support
Besides a strong legal team, you will also need an emotional support system. Going through a divorce is incredibly challenging and your entire life changes once you file for divorce. Dealing with this rollercoaster of emotions is tough and without an emotional support system, you may feel lonely, confused, isolated, and overwhelmed.
A support team could mean a family member or friend, or it could be professional help, like a licensed therapist or counselor. If you suffered emotional or physical abuse in the relationship, hiring professional help is strongly advised. Even if the divorce ends amicably, it is helpful to speak with a professional to process your emotions and put yourself in a healthy position moving forward with your life.
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Anything negative you post on social media about your marriage or spouse is public. Things that happen in your personal life when you know you are getting divorced but are not yet divorced should be kept private as it can come back to haunt you. One thing to always keep in mind is that if you have children who are old enough to use a computer, they may see what you post, too.
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If there are children involved in the marriage, it is helpful to prepare child custody plans before the divorce proceedings. If you and your spouse have already split up and are living separately, you may have a functioning custody and visitation arrangement in place that you want to maintain.
You can draw up a visitation schedule and custody plan, outlining who has primary custody, where the children’s primary residence will be, when the visitation will take place, and where the visitation will take place. It may be helpful to include information about the children, such as their medical history, medication, school, daycare arrangements, and other important information.
If you and your spouse still live together in the marital home and do not have a custody arrangement in place, it may help to discuss this before initiating a divorce, if possible. You can discuss where the children should live and who should become the custodial parent. If one spouse has traditionally acted as the primary caregiver, it may be beneficial to maintain this arrangement after a divorce.
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Many people forget that there is a whole new life waiting for them after a divorce. Preparing for life after a divorce is essential to ensure a smooth transition and to provide a stable foundation for your future. Some things to help you prepare for life after divorce include:
- Emotional Support – Speaking with a family therapist or counselor can help you understand your emotions, learn to cope with life changes, and build a firm foundation for living on your own again. Having a support group of family and friends is also vital during and after a divorce.
- Financial Planning – It is important to plan financially to prepare for your life after a divorce. If your partner traditionally dealt with tax returns and financial affairs, you must learn to understand this on your own. It may be helpful to speak with a financial advisor who can help you plan for the future, create a budget, and set up bank accounts and retirement plans.
- Self-Care – Often, people do not prioritize self-care as much during a marriage, particularly when considering a divorce. It is helpful to begin prioritizing self-care during a divorce, like doing things you enjoy, exercising, spending time with friends, and setting personal and financial goals.
Adjusting to life after a divorce poses many unique challenges. It is important to be patient with yourself during this time, surround yourself with things you love, and take care of yourself. Try not to expect too much and take things as slowly as you need to.
The Divorce Process in Texas
There are several steps involved in divorce proceedings in Texas. Being prepared for divorce involves understanding these steps, having the legal documentation necessary, and meeting the legal requirements. The best way to understand divorce proceedings is by speaking with an experienced attorney.
File For Divorce
To file for divorce in Texas, you or your spouse must have lived in the state for at least six months and lived within the county for at least ninety days. Either you or your spouse must file for divorce by submitting an Original Petition for Divorce.
In this petition, you must outline the type of divorce you are seeking, the grounds for divorce, separate property, and other relevant information. You must submit it with the filing fee in the county that you are living in.
Notify Your Spouse
Once you have filed for divorce, you must serve notice to the other spouse. Your spouse can sign a waiver of citation or you can hire a process server to notify them on your behalf. Your spouse must then submit a response to the petition, either agreeing to the divorce or contesting certain issues. They may raise a counter-petition or requests for relief.
Contact Skillern Firm Divorce & Child Custody Lawyers Today!
Divorce is a challenging time in anybody’s life. Trying to divide assets, split time with the children involved, and divide the life you had with your spouse to go your separate ways is emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausting. Planning for divorce can help make this process smoother and prevent major bumps along the way.
The best way to effectively prepare for divorce is by hiring an experienced family law attorney. A lawyer that has significant experience handling divorces, dividing assets, making child custody arrangements, and fighting for spousal support can adequately prepare you for divorce proceedings.
The lawyers at Skillern Firm Divorce & Child Custody Lawyers have the experience and skills necessary to ensure that your divorce goes as smoothly as possible. We want to help avoid any stressful situations, and we will prioritize mediation to try to amicably come to a final divorce decree.
Our attorneys can help you prepare for divorce by gathering documentation on your behalf, assessing your personal and shared property, drawing up a custody and visitation schedule, putting you in touch with financial advisors, and protecting your best interests. We care about protecting your future and putting you in the best possible situation after a divorce.
Call us today to arrange an initial consultation at (832) 688-6606
