Divorce is difficult no matter how you look at it. While no divorce is a walk in the park, some are more contentious than others, and if yours is heading toward high-conflict territory, it is time to take stock. Once contentiousness takes over, it becomes far more difficult to take a step back and reign things in. If you sense your divorce is moving in the wrong direction, reach out to a dedicated Gatesville divorce attorney who has ample experience successfully handling high-conflict divorces.
Complicating Factors
There are some issues that make divorce that much more complicated right off the bat, including:
High assets
Business ownership
Generally complicated financials
Ownership of multiple properties
Extensive separate property (What is Community vs. Separate Property in a Texas Divorce?)
While these factors will naturally make your divorce more complex, if you and your divorcing spouse are both willing to engage in good faith negotiations, there is no reason that you cannot ultimately reach mutually acceptable terms via extensive negotiations and/or some form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). After all, there are plenty of examples of high-profile divorces that have managed to do just that.
If Your Spouse Embraces a High-Conflict Approach
The one factor that is very difficult to overcome outside of litigation is if your divorcing spouse chooses to embrace drama and turmoil in an all-out effort to thwart your divorce preferences (even if by doing so, he or she fails to uphold his or her own best interests). In such a situation, moving forward with elaborate negotiations and/or mediation is likely to be a waste of both time and money. If your soon-to-be ex is willing to backburner his or her own best interests to make the divorce process more difficult for you, there is very likely nothing you can do to help persuade him or her to act otherwise.
Help Yourself
If your spouse is guiding you toward a high-conflict divorce, there are several things that you can do to protect yourself and your case along the way, including:
Don’t take your spouse’s hurtful words and actions personally, and don’t let them affect the decisions you make (your spouse is driven by his or her own demons that you have no control over).
Set boundaries that include not tolerating verbal abuse (or any other kind of abuse). If this means only communicating via text or through your respective divorce attorneys, that is perfectly fine.
Do not allow yourself to be played. Your spouse has probably been honing his or her skills in the realm of high-conflict interactions for some time now, but you have the right and ability to say no, and if your rights are being trampled, it’s time to do so.
Do Not Wait to Consult with an Experienced Gatesville Divorce Attorney
Brett Pritchard at the Law Office of Brett H. Pritchard in Gatesville, Texas, is a formidable family law attorney who has a wealth of experience successfully guiding high-conflict divorces like yours toward beneficial resolution for his clients. To learn more about how we can also help you, please do not wait to contact us online or call us at (254) 781-4222 today.