Given the stakes involved, it’s completely normal to be worried about your financial stability once your divorce is finalized. Although the emotions that are wrapped up in your marriage dissolution may have you feeling like matters are out of your control, there are steps that you can take to better ensure that you achieve the fair and favorable outcome that you deserve, regardless of whether you negotiate a divorce settlement or litigate your divorce legal issues.
Ways to better position yourself for successful property division
There are a lot of components to your divorce that will directly affect your financial health. Alimony and child support can both play a significant role, but the division of marital assets is probably going to have the most immediate impact. So, as you start navigating this process, you might find it helpful to do each of the following:
- Identify marital assets: Georgia is an equitable division state, which means that marital assets are divided fairly through divorce. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean that the assets are divided evenly. However, to make sure that you obtain your fair portion of the marital estate, you’re going to have to ensure that all marital assets are identified and looped into the process while also protecting any individually owned property that you may have, keeping it outside of the division process. This can be a tricky assessment to conduct, especially when assets have been commingled or improvements have been made to properties or businesses that were once individually owned.
- Look for hidden assets: While we all hope for honesty and integrity during the divorce process, the sad reality is that spouses act inappropriately all the time. Sometimes, this includes hiding marital assets with the intent of keeping the property to themselves, or sometimes they simply squander away assets so that they don’t have to share them with their spouse. This is why it’s important to look for signs that assets may be hidden from you and move quickly to protect them.
- Know what you want and need: Before heading into the property division process, you need to know what your short- and long-term needs are so that you can target your negotiation and litigation strategy. Make sure that you’re being honest with yourself and taking a step back to look at the big picture of your financial stability post-divorce.
- Know what your spouse wants and needs: By conducting that same analysis for your spouse you can identify areas of opportunity when it comes to negotiations. You might be able to use certain pieces of property as leverage to get what you want, which may lead to a better outcome for everyone involved.
- Don’t allow yourself to be coerced: Your spouse might try to bully you into agreeing to an outcome that’s not in your best interests. This might include threatening to withhold visitation with your child or making intimate details of your marriage public. Although these threats can be stressful, try not to let yourself be pushed around by these unfair strategies.
Competently navigate your property division
There’s a lot to consider as you navigate the property division process in your divorce. That’s why it may be helpful for you to have a skilled legal professional on your side who can help you assess the situation and craft the persuasive legal arguments that you need on your side. If you think that kind of advocacy could lead to a better outcome for you, you might want to consider thinking about securing legal assistance as you navigate your divorce.