In a high-asset divorce, you’re bound to face a lot of conflict over property division and other legal issues, such as spousal support and child custody. To acquire a fair outcome in your case, you’re going to have to develop an effective strategy that focuses on negotiation and litigation tactics.
But if you’re like most people, you want to find a way to reduce the amount of conflict in your divorce. This is understandable given the mental toll prolonged confrontation can create, but you can’t let your desire to avoid conflict steer the outcome of your marriage dissolution. If you do, you’ll find yourself in a worse position than you otherwise could’ve obtained.
How can you reduce conflict in your divorce?
The good news is there are ways to reduce conflict in your divorce while still protecting your interests. This includes doing each of the following:
- Reducing face-to-face communications: In-person interactions can quickly spiral into heated arguments that end up way off topic. You can give yourself more control of those interactions, though, by reducing or even eliminating face-to-face interactions in favor of written modes, such as text message and email. These methods of communicating give you the ability to think before responding, and it also captures your spouse’s responses so that they can’t back track on them later.
- Focusing on the future, not the past: A lot of the friction found in divorce is spurred by past behavior. Although you might be hurt by what your spouse has done during your marriage, you should try to refrain from dwelling on those events. Dredging them up during your divorce is only going to create conflict and throw up roadblocks to effective and favorable resolution.
- Choosing your battles: You don’t have to fight over every little issue in your divorce. In fact, giving in on issues that aren’t important to you can leave your spouse feeling like they’ve won in some regard, which can buy you the goodwill you need to effectively negotiate on issues that are important to you.
- Strike the right tone: Even if your spouse says things to try to get a rise out of you, you should remain respectful and professional in your responses. This will shut down any potential fights and spare you unnecessary conflict.
- Putting yourself in your spouse’s shoes: There’s probably a reason why your spouse is acting the way they are. It might be a response to harm caused to them in the past, or it might simply be their way of coping with the uncertainty that they’re facing. If you can view your divorce from their perspective, you might find yourself more understanding and willing to work through the conflict.
- Finding support: Even amicable divorces can create a significant amount of stress and anxiety. You can blunt the impact of your marriage dissolution by surrounding yourself with people who love and care about you. These individuals can serve as outlets for your frustrations and can help you cope with the challenges that you’re facing.
Develop the divorce legal strategy that’s right for you
There are a lot of different ways to approach your high-asset divorce. You need to find the path that’s right for you. This will require you to know your options and the benefits and drawbacks of each. You can learn more about what your divorce can look like by using other divorce-related resources, which will hopefully give you some direction as you prepare to navigate this challenging time in your life.