There are several protective steps to take if divorce is imminent. If you and your spouse are heading toward the breakup of your marriage, you want to make sure that you’re protecting yourself. Once you begin speaking about divorce, your partner could get confrontational or antagonistic. Therefore, take these steps ahead of time so that you are fully protected. Speak to an attorney right away as soon as you think divorce might even be a possibility. Gather legal and financial information and make copies of important documents. Protect yourself financially and begin preparing to be on your own. And finally, be on your best behavior so that you don’t give the court any ammunition to use against you during the process. Hopefully, you can be as prepared as possible if you wind up going down the road toward divorce.
Protective Steps to Take if Divorce is Imminent: Preparing Early
Speak to an Attorney
The most important of the early steps to take if divorce is imminent is to speak with an attorney. An experienced divorce lawyer can guide you through the process and ensure that you are taking the correct steps. They’ll help you decide how best to move forward and make sure that you’re being financially protected.
Gather Financial Information
Additionally, if divorce is imminent, it’s important to go ahead and gather important legal and financial information. Look for things like bank statements, insurance information, tax returns, retirement account statements, wills, and titles. Make an inventory of personal assets and family possessions. Make copies of all documents you find so that your spouse cannot hide them or alter them later.
Protect Yourself Financially
When divorce is imminent, sometimes as soon as it’s spoken out loud, spouses begin taking vindictive steps to financially harm their soon-to-be-ex. Protect yourself from this by taking inventory of accounts. You might consider closing joint credit cards so that your spouse cannot rack up charges that you might later be responsible for. Additionally, if you do not have a credit history in your name, it’s important to begin building your credit.
Be on Your Best Behavior
Finally, if divorce is imminent, it’s time to be on your best behavior. Like it or not, your entire life is about to be put under a microscope. If things get hairy with your divorce, your ex might use any dirty tactics to get what they want out of the settlement. Focus on spending time with your children and keep a relatively low profile. Now is not the time to begin dating somebody new.
If you feel that divorce is imminent, you’ll want to take steps as quickly as possible to protect yourself financially. As soon as you and your spouse begin speaking about divorce in real terms, it could start a chain reaction. Many exes wind up getting very antagonistic towards one another, and you want to make sure they cannot take steps to hurt you financially. Speak with an attorney as soon as possible so they can begin advising you on how best to move forward. Take inventory of your money and begin gathering important legal documents. Prevent your spouse from ringing up huge credit card bills, and start building up your credit if you don’t have a history. And finally, keep your head down and be on your best behavior while the divorce process is pending. Hopefully, you and your ex can settle relatively quickly and painlessly.