Key Factors that Come into Play During Your Divorce

If you and your spouse feel you must divorce each other, that’s probably hard on you both. Maybe you experienced many happy years together, but now, you feel that you have irreconcilable differences. Perhaps you drifted apart over time, and now you want different things.

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You can navigate your divorce process smoothly with an experienced attorney. You might look around online and find one, or perhaps you know someone who used a divorce attorney and thinks they did a good job. 

Either way, you should know about some factors that might come into play as you start the divorce process. Let’s talk about them right now. 

Do You Have Children?

If you have kids, you must consider their feelings and needs during this often-painful process. You must try not to use them as bargaining chips during the power struggles that sometimes accompany divorce proceedings. 

If you want full custody, you must hope your spouse feels okay about that. If they don’t, you might argue about who should get custody and who should get visitation rights. 

You and your spouse can hash that out with your lawyer’s help. Your spouse will presumably have an attorney as well, and you four might meet and talk about your kids. You can discuss where they will live and what child support you or your spouse should pay.

Will You or Your Spouse Pay Alimony?

You must also discuss alimony if that comes into play. Usually, one spouse makes more money than the other. In family court, you’ll quickly learn that judges reward alimony payments based on how much money each person makes and the lifestyle in which you both lived.

If you make more money, you must probably pay your spouse alimony, and perhaps child support as well. If they make more money, it’s usually the other way around. That might continue for a certain number of years. Ultimately, that is the judge’s decision.

Your lawyer can usually get you the most favorable deal regarding alimony if they’re good at their job. Keep in mind, though, that just because a judge feels you or your spouse should get a certain amount of money in alimony every month, it won’t stay that way forever. Life changes that you and your former spouse experience will cause alimony amount changes as the months and years pass.

Do You and Your Spouse Still Get Along Reasonably Well?

You might have to consider whether you and your spouse still get along reasonably well as you enter the divorce process. Sometimes, you might want different things, but you remain friends. You can meet and talk about things rationally without screaming and throwing things.

Maybe you both feel the other person did unforgiveable things, though. Perhaps you or your spouse cheated, or you did other things that hurt the other person terribly.

In those scenarios, these divorce proceedings might become like skirmishes in a war. Your Divorce Lawyer Cook County may meet and discuss terms if you can’t even sit in the same room with each other.

You might quarrel over every little detail during the divorce process. You may fight over every spoon or fork you own. These confrontations might make you miserable, but you must still figure out how to move forward.

Who Gets the House and Other Assets?

You must figure out who gets what assets that you own jointly. Maybe you keep the house, or perhaps your spouse gets it. One of you might keep the car, or perhaps one of you will keep your art collection or something else valuable that you shared.

Hopefully, you’re on the same page about who gets what assets. If you both want the house, the car, or something else, though, then the other person must probably make recompense for it with money or something equally valuable. This process might take some time and get messy before it’s all over.

You should remember that if you and your spouse have gone through a very messy breakup, with screaming fights or even physical violence, then the person who acted more rationally will probably look better in a judge’s eyes in family court. If you acted poorly, the judge might divide up your property and other assets in a way that favors your spouse rather than you.

No matter what, you need a divorce lawyer who knows the law forwards and backwards. They can definitely help you to get the best deal as you dissolve your marriage.