Shortsightedness is often a recipe for financial disaster in divorce
During a divorce it is easy to get caught up in the immediate concerns, such as determining who will keep the house and how child custody will be managed. Although these concerns are important, many people going through a divorce tend to overlook the more long-term considerations, according to USA Today. Considering how one’s post-divorce life is likely to take shape can and should have a significant impact on the decisions a person makes during the actual divorce process.
Circumstances change
A divorce is one of the most momentous and difficult periods many people will have to go through. The end of a marriage signals the beginning of a very different life, which for many people can mean coming to terms with being a newly-single parent or trying to reenter the workforce.
As NBC News points out, people who have spent the majority of their marriages at home raising children are likely to feel the biggest shock in their post-divorce lives. Raising a child while also trying to find work is not only emotionally difficult, but obviously leads to financial strains as well. In many cases, people preparing for a divorce underestimate just how big a change their lifestyles will have to undergo once the divorce is finalized.
Emotions get in the way
Focusing on long-term goals is almost always a prudent and responsible course of action, but such focus is difficult in the midst of a divorce. The end of a marriage is an extremely emotional time for many people and it can become tempting to get caught up in short-term goals, such as holding on to the marital home, rather than considering long-term solutions.
Many people going through a divorce, for example, want to get through the process as quickly as possible. In such cases, a spouse may rush into signing a final divorce order as a way to quickly “move on.” While it is understandable that some people will want to restart their lives sooner rather than later, divorce is a serious issue that deserves to be treated carefully and with proper preparation. Many of the decisions made during a divorce, like spousal support and division of marital property, will have repercussions for years afterwards, but they can be extremely difficult to undo if they eventually turn out to have been handled unsatisfactorily.
Legal advice
It should go without saying that anybody going through a divorce should contact a family law attorney to discuss the specifics of their case. However, when it comes to family law, many attorneys focus solely on helping clients through the actual divorce process and pay little attention to what a client is likely to deal with after a divorce is finalized. Finding an attorney who is committed to a client’s post-divorce life and interests can be difficult, but such an attorney, once found, is an invaluable asset when it comes to working out long-term goals during a divorce.
