Selecting a Divorce Attorney for a bad divorce can influence how you will live your life post-divorce. This cannot be over stated. If you suspect your divorce has the potential to be contentious, you need to make selecting the right lawyer your first priority.
There are a series of problems your divorce attorney may need to help you navigate through:
Child Abuse Allegation:
In the interest of protecting children first. You may feel you are being treated guilty until you are proven innocent. Being accused of child abuse is a serious allegation and may leave many loyal friends on the side lines rather then helping you. To many people it’s better to alienate a potentially innocent friend than to support a child abuser. If you find yourself accused of child abuse, remember this is a marathon not a sprint. In the vast majority of circumstances, your innocence will eventually come to light. Don’t do anything out of frustration before the truth has time to surface. It is imperative that you hire a divorce attorney with experience in dealing with false child abuse allegations.
Hidden Assets or Income
Your divorce attorney is typically very familiar with hidden assets or income. It’s human nature when a marriage comes to an end to try and maximize what you come out of the marriage with. You need a divorce attorney who can make the judgment call on what is worth pursuing and what you should just let go. The effects of your divorce will be with you many years after the emotion of the incident has died down. It’s important to work toward the long term outcome. Chasing money you believe your ex is hiding can often times cost more than the money you eventually find.
Then there are other times when securing your financial future requires an attorney with the know-how to unravel your ex’s complex accounting trail. A good attorney knows what’s worth pursuing.
Domestic Violence Allegations
Similar to child abuse, domestic violence allegations show up in the tougher divorce cases. A good divorce attorney is going to recommend you change some of your habits and practices. You do not want to find yourself in handcuffs in the back of a Police Car because you decided to yell at your ex publicly instead of walk away. Domestic Violence can be a self-fulfilling allegation if you are not careful. Listen to your divorce attorney, he may suggest moving in with friends if necessary to keep yourself out of situations that can be twisted into something else.
Lack of Access to Children
In messy divorces, cutting access to children can become a tactic used by a spouse. This tactic is not only damaging to the children, but it is also damaging to the case of the spouse withholding access to the children. Although heartbreaking to not see your children for extended periods of time, it is imperative to follow the counsel of a wise divorce attorney.
Stolen Assets
Few things are as frustrating as watching your belongings disappear before a divorce is even heard before a Judge. The frustration is compounded when police officers remind you that there is nothing they can do while you are still married. Document, document, document. You will get your day in court and on that day the Judge is going to want to know which belongings went missing and what proof you have of it. So turn your momentary frustration into something constructive by documenting what is missing and preparing for your day in court.
CPS Child Protective Services
Most attorneys would agree that you should never meet with Child Protective Services without an attorney present. It is imperative that you have another witness there that can record the conversation. If you meet with CPS alone, without your divorce attorney, you may find yourself fighting not only the false allegation but also false statements incorrectly recorded by Child Protective Services.
Conclusion:
These are common controversies that crop up suddenly in any divorce. Do not wait to talk to a divorce attorney until after one or multiple of these situations have occurred.
