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Standing Your Ground In A Divorce Settlement

You have probably heard stories about people whose spouse won almost everything in a divorce settlement. There are certain behaviors that enable this kind of turnout, and other strategies that help you to stand your ground. Here are three winning strategies for getting what's owed to you in a divorce settlement.

Know What You Want

The first step is to know what you want out of the settlement. That will require you, first of all, to have an accurate picture of your joint finances. You could hire a financial advisor to estimate what your joint assets are worth and also counsel you on which ones may be most valuable to keep in the divorce.  

Then, write down a list of what you think is fair to win in the settlement. If you double check with your lawyer or financial advisor that what you ask for is fair, that is a good starting point for getting some cooperation out of your spouse and their legal counsel. It may be possible that you can resolve most issues without taking them to court, if you and your spouse want different things out of the settlement.

Keep the Conversation on the Issues

Another thing to keep in mind is that you need to keep the conversation focused on the divorce settlement, rather than the failed relationship, as much as possible. When the relationship comes up, it's almost inevitable that there's something that you could feel guilty about from the relationship, or you may simply feel sad that it's ending and briefly want to reconcile. Any of these emotions can get you in trouble though when you're talking about the logistics of the settlement, though, and you may end up giving up more than you bargained for. If it helps, draw up a list of issues to be discussed at each meeting with your spouse; if you start to veer off track, refer to the list as a way to redirect the conversation.

Hire the Right Lawyer

Finally, the family law attorney you choose matters a lot. They can help to minimize the amount of contact that you need to have with your spouse in order to conduct the divorce settlement. When it becomes a negotiation between two lawyers, it's much less likely for one party to get completely overlooked or ripped off in the settlement. And at the same time, having a proactive family lawyer like Healy and Svoren Attorneys at Law takes a lot of pressure off of you.


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