Tanya Roberts has ten useful pieces of advice to keep in mind if you are heading towards divorce.
- The family will be poorer than you were before you divorced!
- It takes both of you to achieve a sensible outcome, if one of you is unreasonable it will increase the likelihood of litigation.
- It is much better for the two of you to tell the children that you are separating together, and be prepared to answer lots of questions, so have a plan thought out.
- Be up front about your financial position, any attempt to be less than frank will be found out!
- Being a lousy partner (for whatever reason) does not mean they are a lousy parent. Try and separate the two.
- Select your lawyer carefully, make sure you select one that has the same approach as you.
- There may be tactical decisions to be made early on about jurisdiction so take advice in a timely manner.
- Don't rely too much on what younger children say they want, they have little real understanding of the repercussions and are invariably saying what they think you want to hear (and saying something different therefore to your partner).
- Write and text your partner on the basis that a judge may read it at some stage, i.e. be measured!
- Consider the different ways available to resolve the various issues (e.g. children and money) and discuss these with your lawyer at an early stage.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
