A recent article interviewed local divorce lawyers and family law circuit court judges for some real-world advice on what to do and what not to do when it comes to filing a divorce. The examples offered in the article are chilling, extreme illustrations of what can go wrong when it comes to divorce filings, the division of assets, and division of finances.
The article offers several divorce “Horror Story” examples, each one with it’s own lesson. A few of the better ones are:
The story of a wife who after being served divorce papers bulldozed the home her husband prized and was seeking in the divorce proceedings. Since marital assets were to be divided equally, the circuit judge awarded the wife the destroyed home and gave the husband the other assets.
The lesson here being that you shouldn’t let anger drive your decisions when it comes to divorce, especially when it comes to destroying property. You end up paying for it in the end.
Another story is about a couple going through a divorce who couldn’t decide how to divide their belongings and left the decisions to the courts. The wife was awarded the rifles, hunting dog, boat and truck. The husband, the armoire, china, quilt collection and silverware.
The lesson here is to have a plan for dividing your assets when you come to court. Leave the big stuff (house, alimony, child custody) to the judge and handle the rest yourself.
The common theme in these humorous stories is that if you are going through a divorce, the first thing you need to do is get legal advice. Our divorce and child custody attorneys have seen extreme situations like these before and we know how to deal with them. Even more importantly, the advice we can offer to those going through this very difficult time will prevent them from making a costly mistake, one they will regret for a long time to come.
If you are going through or are thinking about filing for a divorce, contact the experienced Divorce Attorneys at Wallin & Klarich today for a free consultation. Our experienced attorneys can help you through this very difficult, emotional time, with sound planning and solid legal advice.