When your marriage comes to an end, it’s easy to get caught up in your emotions. Overwhelmed by all that you are experiencing can cause you to unknowingly make mistakes. This might come with longer lasting consequences, so it is vital that you do your best to remain level headed and not succumb to your emotions. The following are some of the most common mistakes dads make as they go through divorce….
Running Up Litigation Costs
In an effort to outspend and break their ex-wives, dads will drive up litigation expenses. This can cause fathers to deplete their own funds and gain enemies. This can also create the impression that they are being unnecessarily difficult which can cause the judge to side in favor with their ex.
Over-Extending Themselves
With divorce comes change. With expenses like child support, alimony, and the cost of dual households, they feel overwhelmed and are forced to work more just to support these lifestyle changes. To avoid over-extending yourself, consult with your divorce attorney in the beginning of the process. They can help you understand what your financial obligations are and assist you in creating an effective budget to accommodate the pending changes.
Failing to Prioritize Their Children
In an effort to maintain the peace, fathers sometimes sacrifice time with their children and avoid going to family court. While it is important that you make the transition as smooth as possible for your children, it is more important that they are still getting time with their dad.
Using Their Children as Pawns
Often times fathers will use gaining equal custody of the children as leverage to reduce the amount of child support they’ll have to pay. Custody should be divided fairly and centered around the best interest of the children, not either parent. It is important to spend quality time with your children when you do have them. If you’re only fighting for custody because you do not want to have higher child support payments, you need to step back and reevaluate.
Refusing to Pay Child Support
Usually if a father ceases child support payments, there is a good reason for it whether it be that they lost their job or had a decrease in pay. Regardless, you should not stop paying your child support. In these situations, it is best to ask for a modification. It is likely that a judge will agree to the modification if it is deemed that your current payments are causing significant financial stress on you and not maintaining the best interest of the children. You do not want to face penalties and interest fees on top of missed payments.
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About Grubbs & Landry
At Grubbs & Landry, PLLC, we are dedicated to personal and friendly service. We manage our practice in an ethical, cost-effective manner to best help our clients resolve their legal issues with the least expense possible. We pride ourselves in advocating for our client in divorce, child custody, and child support matters as well as other family law matters. We are active in prosecuting personal injury cases-recovering for the injuries our clients sustain due to the negligence of others. Additionally, we help our clients prepare for the future through the preparation of Wills, Power of Attorney and Living Will.
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