Divorcing your spouse can be emotionally straining, and not to mention it’s one of the most challenging financial decisions between romantic partners. In the United States alone, one couple gets divorced every twenty seconds, resulting in significant exchange and settlements of financial assets every day. When a couple gets divorced, both will likely want to ensure they receive everything they’re entitled to.
Most envision fair settlements where they can part ways amicably and fairly, and once the assets and income are split, both individuals can sustain the living standard they’re accustomed to with it.
Just like how personal injury lawyers can help victims of accidents get the compensation they deserve, a family attorney can help you maximize your divorce settlement claims.
However, besides hiring a lawyer, there are several ways you can maximize your claims, including the following strategies:
Focus On Interests Not Positions
Besides divorce papers, one of the most crucial things you need to do during divorce settlements and negotiations is removing yourself from positional bargaining and focusing on the main interest you want to satisfy. Make sure to focus on the claim that you’re trying to meet alongside the ones your spouse wants.
Dispositional targeting often leads to a stalemate. No resolution will happen for you and your spouse on your alimony or maintenance problem, leading the case into a drawn-out conflict. Your interest can be the basis of your position to ensure you don’t blow your budget but are reasonably managing the situation. Your spouse is to ensure they can pay rent and utilities while finishing up a master’s degree. Both these can be aligned.
That’s why it’s best to analyze issues from the perspective of these interests and enable everything to flow better, resulting in better solutions for both sides, maximizing claims.
Be Wary Of “Hard Bargaining”
Be careful when following the hard-bargain approach during divorce proceedings as it’s incredibly volatile. That’s because even if the strategy can be sometimes efficient in divorce cases where the other spouse is passive and willing to adjust, in most cases, it can lead to breakdowns of divorce of settlement and negotiations. If the personality situation is right, then it’s one of the most effective routes you can take.
However, if both spouses aren’t on good terms where both aren’t passive, this will lead to a stalemate, resulting in no negotiated divorce settlements and negotiations.
Avoid Informational Disparity
One thing that stands out in mediating divorce settlements is that it’s possible to negotiate fair divorce settlement agreements even without knowing every fact there is. Although one could get if neither spouse understands the score, in most cases, one spouse has a better knowledge of the facts according to the law, while the other doesn’t, leading to undesirable results. When this happens, it usually ends in unfair divorce agreements alongside the lack of information.
That’s why every party must prepare for divorce mediation by ensuring their financial disclosures are complete and that their lawyers have analyzed the facts of your case and applied them accordingly to the law. Doing this ensures you don’t end up getting unfair agreements, maximizing your claims.
Educate The Other Side
A party’s lack of understanding of how facts apply to the law can result in them overestimating their results. For instance, a needy spouse has been led to believe the amount of alimony they’ll receive is higher than what family courts would likely allow. It’s best to educate them in these cases by using financial and marital asset disclosures, motion practice, send letters from your lawyer to theirs, or have divorce mediation through a professional mediator.
Be Transparent
Most couples miss out on good deals in the settlements because one of them hasn’t developed a fair amount of trust with the other. For instance, consider the lawyer representing a spouse who couldn’t access the physical, financial documents during the marriage. Even if the negotiations being made between partners are genuine, without the proper paperwork to back up the numbers, the other spouse and their attorney may not have the trust required to go further in the financial divorce settlement alongside the division of properties.
Luckily, you can maximize your divorce settlement claims by merely being transparent. Doing this shows your spouse you’re intending to operate in good faith, building trust, allowing you to get the most out of your claims.
Negotiating divorce settlements can be a tricky process. However, if you play it safely and smartly, you can get away without spending exorbitant costs and getting the most out of the claims—and the tips mentioned can make the process easier.
