Going through a divorce is an emotional process that often leads to regrettable mistakes. These mistakes can make your divorce more expensive and damage your relationship with your children and other family members. With so much at stake—such as asset division, spousal support, and child custody—it’s crucial to avoid common errors.
To help, we have compiled a list of the 10 dumbest mistakes in divorce cases. An experienced Virginia Beach divorce lawyer can help you avoid these pitfalls and achieve your goals.
1. Moving Out of Your Marital Home Too Soon
While you may wish to distance yourself from your spouse, vacating your marital home too soon can have serious repercussions. Leaving children behind can significantly impact the court’s custody decision.
Furthermore, prematurely leaving your marital home can put you at a disadvantage. While you struggle to establish a new living arrangement, your spouse remains comfortable and less motivated to negotiate. Giving your spouse this leverage will make it difficult to get what you want from the divorce process.
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2. Hiring the Wrong Lawyer
Choosing the right lawyer is critical when pursuing a divorce. Select someone experienced in divorce cases with whom you feel comfortable and who is willing to take your case to court if necessary.
While affordability matters, avoid the cheapest option, as they may cut corners. Investing in a competent, reliable lawyer can significantly impact the outcome of your divorce.
You also want to avoid the “sales attorney”. Many law firms have attorneys meet with you to sell legal services and you can be assured that once you become that attorney’s client, his or her focus will be on getting new clients, not you.
3. Waiting for Your Spouse to Initiate Divorce Proceedings
While you should never rush into a divorce, waiting too long to begin the process can be just as big of a mistake. Don’t wait for your spouse to begin the divorce process. If it’s time to initiate divorce proceedings, you should file as soon as possible to minimize the impact.
Take steps to work on your marriage before turning to divorce. However, if the relationship is clearly broken, waiting to file will likely mean more fighting between you and your spouse, which can cause greater harm to your children in the long run.
Furthermore, arguments can turn into shouting matches and even become physical. Knowing when to call it quits can be best for everyone involved.
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4. Failing to Share Everything With Your Attorney
Another dumb mistake in a divorce case is withholding things from your lawyer. Your attorney needs to be aware of everything that affects your case to avoid surprises that could destroy the legal strategies they have built.
One of the main things people lie to their lawyers about in divorce cases is hidden financial accounts. People will try to keep their money hidden so they don’t have to split it with their spouse.
However, hidden accounts are almost always discovered during the divorce process, and lying to your lawyer about them can leave them unable to defend you and anger the judge in your case, resulting in a worse outcome than if you had disclosed them in the first place.
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5. Failing to Prioritize Your Children
When going through a divorce, make your children your number one priority. Failing to do so can have several negative consequences.
In addition to hurting your chances of securing sole or shared custody, you can do irreparable harm to your relationship with your children. The divorce process often takes a year or two, and you need to demonstrate to your children that they are loved throughout the proceedings and that the divorce is not their fault.
You need to do everything you can to ensure your children are protected during your divorce.
6. Keeping Poor Records
You must maintain complete and accurate financial records and provide them to your attorney. With incomplete information, your lawyer will have a hard time arguing your case and getting you a desirable outcome.
Failure to provide complete and accurate financial records can make it challenging for your attorney to secure the money you need and could even result in sanctions from the court.
7. Posting on Social Media Platforms
When going through a divorce, avoid posting anything on a social media platform that can potentially be used against you. Even a deleted post or a post on a private channel can be uncovered and used by the opposition.
You also need to be aware that even a post that seems innocent to you may harm your case. Avoiding social media as much as possible during the divorce process is the best way to go.
8. Sharing Too Much Information With Mutual Friends
Just as sharing too much on social media can come back to haunt you, sharing too much with mutual friends you have with your ex can harm your case.
Information you share with friends or family can affect your case in multiple ways. Mutual friends may either accidentally repeat your remarks to your spouse without meaning to cause you any harm, or they could deliberately share information because they have taken your spouse’s side in the divorce.
Furthermore, any friends or family you share information with can be subpoenaed and forced to reveal what you said in court. While you can share certain information with your friends and family, if you find the need to share details that could potentially harm your case, hiring a therapist is the best way to go, as they can not be compelled to testify.
9. Neglecting Contact With Your Attorney
Keep in touch with your attorney throughout the divorce process. You need to keep your lawyer updated about any changes to your situation so they can build their case around accurate information, and it’s critical that you don’t withhold anything from your lawyer.
Respond promptly to any calls or emails from your Virginia Beach family lawyer to ensure they have all the information they need to build a strong case on your behalf.
10. Not Adequately Preparing to Testify
When going through a divorce, it can be easy to forget details about your marriage and separation that your spouse’s attorney has deep knowledge of, having studied your case for months.
If you don’t adequately prepare and study the details of your own life, your spouse’s lawyer can make you look foolish in court and significantly harm your claim.
Get Help From an Experienced Divorce Lawyer Today
The best way to avoid making dumb mistakes in your divorce case is by hiring an experienced divorce lawyer as soon as possible. At Melone Hatley, P.C., our firm has been helping people through the divorce process for over ten years.
Contact us by phone or through our website to schedule a free case consultation with a member of our legal team today. For more information, check out our in-depth guide to the 10 dumbest mistakes in divorce cases.
Schedule a call with one of our client services coordinators today.
