Divorce is tough, complicated and emotionally taxing. If you are not careful, it can be easy to make a mistake that costs you thousands of dollars and damage your transition to post-married life.
Here are three examples of common mistakes to avoid during your divorce.
1. Trying to ‘get it over with’ too fast
It’s understandable. Divorce is an emotionally draining and stressful time in your life, one that most people want to put behind them as soon as possible. But agreeing to your ex’s first settlement offer just to speed up the process is not in your best interests. Under Mississippi divorce law, you are entitled to an equitable — meaning fair — portion of the marital assets you and your ex accumulated during your marriage. Taking less than a reasonable share could make it hard for you to support yourself.
2. Assuming your ex told you about all the marital assets
Whether or not your ex ever lied to you during your marriage, you cannot assume that they don’t have any hidden assets you don’t know about. This is especially common in cases where one spouse was in charge of all the money matters. An experienced divorce attorney will have the knowledge and resources to help you uncover signs that there is more the marital property pile than your ex claims.
3. Forgetting about debts
Just as you split up marital assets with your ex, you must also divide up the debts you acquired during the marriage. And there can be hidden debts as well as assets. This becomes your problem if your ex has, for example, taken out a credit card in both your and their name without your knowledge. If they default on the debt, the credit card company can come after you for repayment, even though you had nothing to do with it. Credit reports for yourself and your ex should expose any hidden debts. And for the joint accounts, loans and mortgages you know about, refinancing and paying them off wherever possible can untangle you from your ex’s financial decisions going forward.
Avoiding costly errors now will help you move on from your divorce long-term.
