Divorces, whether amicable or contentious, can be quite emotionally taxing even without you having to worry about your partner infringing on your rights.
To ensure that you are treated respectfully, and with dignity throughout the process, the bill of rights guarantees both parties a variety of rights that are further enforced by specific state laws.
Whether your partner has shown real signs of their intention to take advantage of you or simply want to ensure that you get what you rightly deserve at the end of it all, here’s a few ways you can protect your legal rights during divorce.
Property Division Rights
Both parties involved in this strenuous process have a right to get their fair share of the property involved; both wife and husband. To protect your right to the property, it’s essential that you disclose all the details of all the assets under consideration. Where both parties are found to have acted in good faith as far as the disclosure of assets owned is concerned, they enjoy the same level of trust during the asset division process.
It’s recommended that you avoid the temptation to destroy, hide, transfer or dispose of any assets you own. This is because good divorce attorneys have the skills and resources required to uncover any recently transferred or disposed of assets. Such discoveries would taint your image in court and lead to the loss of the level of trust you would have enjoyed during the process of asset division.
Furthermore, it’s important for you to collect all relevant documents on all the properties you own. This should be done as early as possible; preferably right after you become aware of your own, or your partner’s, intention to get a divorce. These documents will come in handy when tracking all the assets to be considered during the division process.
Custody Rights
The custody of minors is one of the most contentious issues in most divorce proceedings. Both parties involved in the process have the right to file for custody of any minor children they may have had.
In most cases, divorce courts will grant custody to the parent showing the desire to best care of the minors involved. This is mainly because these courts aim to do what is best for the underage kids caught up in the divorce. To best protect your right to be awarded custody of your kids, it’s recommended that you make an application for the same as early as possible; preferably after the commencement of the court process.
To avoid losing custody of your kids, it’s recommended that you avoid contravening the provisions of any divorce laws or court orders involving custody of the kids during the divorce proceedings. The kids should not be moved outside their “home state” or be hidden from one parent by the other. Most importantly, avoid any behavior that might paint you as an irresponsible parent in the eyes of the court.
Observing the above tips will give you a better chance of getting a favorable custody agreement. In case the court finds that both parents are responsible and deserving, joint custody may be granted.
Account Management
Even as the divorce process continues, you and your spouse, and any children involved, will continue to spend money; and in some cases, accumulate debt as you continue using credit cards. To ensure that your rights are protected especially during the debt division stage, you can seek temporary court orders specifying how you will meet your spending before you become financially independent. This is essential if you have joint accounts.
It is also worth noting that running up debt on your partner’s account maliciously does not mean that you won’t be held to account by the court during the debt division process.
Issuing Threats and Any Form of Harassment
Divorce proceedings can get nasty. Angry partners can turn violent or use threats to harass each other. Both parties have a right not be harassed in any way whatsoever. If you are being harassed by your partner, it’s important that you seek a court order to protect your rights. It’s worth mentioning that law enforcement officers are bound to respond to domestic violence calls where a restraining order is in force.
If a restraining order has been issued against you, adhere to its provisions to avoid endangering your legal rights as far as the divorce process is concerned.
Temporary Court Orders
Obtaining temporary court orders is a great way to further protect your rights during a divorce process. TROs, as they are commonly referred to as, can be issued to provide you with some much-needed peace of mind, especially in cases where one of the parties has shown the will to infringe upon the legal rights of the other party in one way or another.
These orders can be obtained for just about anything divorce related including child custody, asset and debt division and visitations among others.
If you are the party the orders have been made against, it’s important that you avoid going against them; to safeguard your rights. Contravening the provisions of these orders is bound to create more conflict. Even more importantly, such behavior will raise a lot of questions about your character and even taint your image in the eyes of the court.
Right to Spousal Support
Both spouses involved in the divorce proceedings have a right to spousal support. For all the men out there, it’s worth noting that you also have a right to ask for spousal support as well. If your wife has been the family’s breadwinner, or you are financially dependent on them, you can ask for spousal support through the court.
The same goes without saying regarding the female party involved in the divorce proceedings. The court usually considers the request, before deciding on whether to deny the application or grant temporary or long-term spousal support.
Getting Professional Support
The rights granted to both parties going through a divorce are designed to ensure that the process remains as fair as possible. Although you can use the above ways to protect your rights throughout the process, hiring the right divorce attorney from http://deanhineslawyer.com to represent you throughout this challenging process will definitely give you an upper hand.
(Six Ways to Protect Your Legal Rights During a Divorce) I went through hell when my ex-husband and I divorced years ago. I even had the cable company come after me for his cable bill months after I had moved out with the children. Went to court and it was dropped.
I agree … divorce is hell … and not just with your ex-spouse. The creditors don’t care if you divorced a deadbeat – they only care about getting their money and some of them are absolutely ruthless when it comes to harassment on getting paid what the other party left owing. I’m sorry that you had to go through all of that June but thankful you finally got it resolved!
The creditors took all my credit away for a couple of years after we divorced. They are real jerks to non-working mother’s. But I was working for my ex-husbands hearing aid office for free when we lived down in Texas and also working at Red- Lobster waiting tables at night. My ex would make me give him some money for feeding his own children on the weekends he had his weekend visits with them out of the child support money he had to pay me for our three children. The man was a real piece of work during and after our divorce. Glad he is someone else’s big problem now.
Well good riddance to bad rubbish as my nana used to say! You don’t need that in your life at all June!
Wow I would hope it’s not so contentious that I’d need to get a temporary court order
Spousal support and custody were the two major issues in my parent’s divorce!