Divorce can be a stressful time in anyone’s life, and as attorneys ourselves, we want to provide you with some advice on how to financially prepare for the hardships that may arise during your divorce.
Speak to an Attorney about Divorce
When wondering about everything you can do to financially prepare yourself for divorce, there are some things that are crucial to know beforehand. The first and most important thing is to speak to an attorney before you file for divorce.
When you start to file for divorce, there are several factors that need to be considered as you proceed. One of these is that a temporary injunction goes into effect automatically when the case assumes jurisdiction over the parties for the purposes of dissolving the marriage. With this injunction, there comes some restrictions on things you can do related to your marital estate, like making changes to insurance polices or concealing or dissipating assets. Unfortunately, this is something we often see, so keep in mind that this injunction goes into effect automatically.
Know What Not to Do in a Divorce
It’s also crucial to know what to do and not do before actually filing for divorce. Something that’s not well-known is that you really shouldn’t move your assets around prior to divorce in order to keep them out of the divorce. Doing this is known as a dissipation of assets in contemplation of marriage, and there is an economic fault element that the court can look back on when seeing what either party has been doing before the divorce. If the court finds out that you’ve been doing this, then you can get into a lot of trouble, resulting in high costs for tracking down those assets and information.
Understand Pre- and Post- Nuptial Agreements
Prenuptial agreements occur prior to the marriage, while postnuptial agreements occur after, and these agreements lay out plans for how things like property, bank accounts, and assets will be divided between spouses. It’s important to understand these and know which one you have with your spouse because it can affect child custody, the division of assets, and more. It just depends on your situation and how the court views your divorce.
Consider Hiring an Attorney
Once you have chosen to file a divorce from your spouse, a long and often complicated journey begins. The last thing you want to do is become overwhelmed by the entire situation, so in order to avoid this, hiring an attorney is a smart plan of action. Aside from being a consultant on the legal side of things, we can also advocate for you and your best interests.
Overall…
Ultimately, divorce is a very complicated ordeal. In order to prepare yourself financially, it’s best to speak to an attorney, know what not to do, understand pre- and post- nuptial agreements, and consider hiring an attorney. Even though divorce is a difficult time, you don’t have to make it any harder on yourself.
If you’d like to learn more about the divorce services we offer at the Colorado Lawyer Team, check out our webpage about it here.
Need Legal Help?
Looking for legal representation? Not sure if hiring an attorney is the right thing for you? Consider reaching out to our attorneys here at the Colorado Lawyer Team for a free 30-minute consultation. With specialties in family law and criminal law, our experienced, dedicated, and hard-working attorneys may just be the representation you need! Find more information at https://colawteam.com or call 970.670.0378.
Interested in learning more about the law? Check out some of our previous blog posts like Economic Stressors and Divorce and Domestic Violence Cases and Child Custody.
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: This blog post does not create an attorney-client relationship. It’s a blog post and not legal advice. Each case is different, and this post is meant for generalized knowledge, only. If you haven’t signed an engagement letter (or even received an engagement letter) AND issued some form of payment (peanuts do not count), then no attorney-client relationship exists. Nevertheless, we will do our best to ensure your confidentiality should you choose to contact us privately, but do not post about your case in the comments here (because reaching out for help with your case should be confidential, damn it).
If you have done both of the things mentioned earlier–signed a letter and paid us–then, and only then, you might be a client. But merely chatting with us online does not a client make. Suffice it to say, if you aren’t absolutely certain about whether or not an attorney-client relationship exists between yourself and the Colorado Lawyer Team, you should probably ask for some clarity. Until then, we’ll keep your secrets but we don’t formally represent you… YET.
