I recently came across an article entitled “Seven Tips to Help You Get Through a Divorce“, written by Marvin Webster. Although Mr. Webster does not appear to be a family law attorney, his first bit of advice is pretty dead on – to hire and listen to your divorce lawyer.
Hiring a divorce lawyer is a very important first step. As family law and divorce lawyers, we are different than most other attorneys. We work with everyday people who are dealing with an extremely stressful situation. Most legal disputes involve money and businesses, and usually the insurance companies with deep coffers are the ones paying the bills. But in family law, we are dealing with highly emotionally charged issues including kids and life savings. There is not insurance company to fall back on for help with the legal costs.
Here are some of the other tips Mr. Webster gives:
- Write Everything down – this is something I encourage people to do in my No-Cost Divorce Guide
- Keep your cool – I know it is hard, but he is right on the money here
- Talk in a civilized manner – If you can’t then you should let the attorneys talk to one another
- Don’t sign anything without reading it first – I’ll go a step further and say you shouldn’t sign anything without letting your attorney read it first. There are a lot of legal pitfalls in NC that may not be so obvious to the untrained reader
- Don’t try to guilt the other person into doing something they don’t want to do
- Never use the children as leverage – I’m not sure I even need to comment on that as I couldn’t have put it better myself
Bottom line? Any family law case, and especially a divorce, is an extremely stressful event. In North Carolina, the rules are complicated and deadlines come up quick. Talk to a cary family law attorney about your rights before you do something you will later regret.
