Why do you need to plan a divorce before filing for a divorce in San Diego? How can a well conceived and implemented divorce strategy protect your goals and interests while reducing the time it takes as well as the emotional and financial cost of your divorce?
Developing a plan before filing for a divorce provides the highest probability of achieving your goals. Pre-planning with the Certified Family Law Specialists at Burke & Domercq helps you to make sound, informed decisions. There are absolutely actions you can take before and during your divorce which will improve your position.
One example is to quietly gather copies of statements from all joint and separate financial and retirement accounts for the past 3 years. You will also need federal and state tax returns for the same period of time. While spouses owe each other a legal fiduciary duty to act in each other’s best financial interests until the date the divorce decree is issued, many spouses attempt to hide money or under-report the value of assets.
Gathering and analyzing financial statements and tax records helps to protect your best interests from the outset of the divorce. You are entitled to half of the community property which includes retirement accounts.
Do you have children? Parents need to plan a divorce before filing for a divorce for a multitude of reasons. First, there are actions you can take which will hurt your position as a parent. Moving out of the family home can be used against you during child custody and parenting time discussions. If your spouse is presently doing most of the transportation of your child(ren) to school and other events it is in your interests to consider taking on more if you wish to share parenting after the divorce.
The existing patterns of your children’s lives will have a substantial impact on child custody and parenting time allocations in a divorce. If you wish to continue to be actively involved in a child’s life after the divorce you need to give careful consideration to existing patterns in their life.
Another reason you need to plan a divorce before filing for a divorce is to develop a strategy to make the process less emotionally distressing. Emotional actions and decisions are quite often poor actions and decisions. The actions you take and the decisions you make before and during your divorce will impact the rest of your life.
You need to plan how you will handle everything from communications to social media to finances. You will need the guidance of the experienced, proven Certified Family Law Specialists at Burke & Domercq.
Protect your own interests and contact us or call 760-389-3927 to schedule an appointment for a remote or socially distanced consultation with one of our experienced Certified Family Law Specialists.