Most divorces are highly emotional. This is understandable given that most marriage dissolutions involve the untangled lives that have been enmeshed for years or even decades. While you certainly need to take care of your emotional well-being during the divorce process, you also need to recognize that divorce is a massive financial transaction. Therefore, you’ll want to be as fully prepared as possible before working toward any sort of resolution.
And, truth be told, a lot of divorce cases do end up resolving before trial. There could be a lot of reasons for this, from wanting to avoid the risks associated with litigation to wanting to quickly close this chapter of life, but you shouldn’t rush to a divorce settlement without knowing that it’s right for you. So, if you’re in the middle of divorce proceedings and are about to head into negotiations, you need to prepare a strategy.
Developing your divorce negotiation strategy
You can’t walk blindly into divorce negotiations lest you want to be taken advantage of. If, on the other hand, you want to achieve the best financial outcome possible, thereby setting you on course for a successful financial future post-divorce, then you might want to take these tactics into consideration:
- Know what you need: Most people have things that they need to get out of a divorce. These assets are oftentimes non-negotiable, so by identifying these assets early on you know where you’ll need to hold strong.
- Know what you want: These are assets that you desire but may be able to give and take. This area is where a lot of your negotiation strategy will come from. But so, too, will the next category.
- Know what your spouse needs and wants: If you can pinpoint the assets that are most important to your spouse, then you can use them as leverage during settlement talks. You can place pressure on your spouse to ensure that you’re driving toward those assets that you need and those that you want most.
- Know which assets are at stake: This might sound simple, but we can’t even begin to tell you how many times we’ve seen spouses hiding assets or undervaluing businesses. If you let your spouse get away with this, then you’re losing out on major assets that could provide you with the financial stability that you need post-divorce.
- Know when to walk: Most people hope that they can resolve their marriage dissolution disagreements without the need of a judge. But that desire to avoid court shouldn’t spur you into a bad divorce agreement. Instead, before entering into negotiations, you should have a pretty good idea of when the situation is so unfavorable that you’re better off taking your chances in court.
Prepare for the fight of your life
Although many divorces end in settlement and a lot of these conclude on amicable terms, you shouldn’t expect that from your divorce. Instead, it’s your best bet to expect the worst and hope for the best. To be as prepared as possible to handle the worst possible situation, you need to have a strong legal strategy for every aspect of your case. That may mean conducting investigations into hidden assets, having an expert properly evaluate marital assets, and developing equitable distribution arguments that aggressively advocate for your position.
Fortunately, there are legal professionals who are adept and experienced in this area of the law who can help you fight for what is rightfully yours. Hopefully, then you can start the next chapter of your life on the strong financial footing you need.