There are many factors that can slow down a divorce.
Here are some of the most common and how you can prepare for or avoid these potential pitfalls in your divorce.
Emotional issues
People can get so worked up emotionally that they can’t participate fully in the divorce process and that slows things down. Unaddressed emotional issues in the divorce process can keep you stuck. Maybe you’re deeply hurt but holding in that emotion is not benefiting you and can impact the efficiency of the divorce. Unaddressed emotional issues can cause you to become focused on punishing your spouse. That may result in an attitude of “I don’t care if we give all our money to the lawyers, I’d rather them have it than you.” You may not realize it has happened until afterward when it has cost you a lot of time and money. A mental health professional can help address the issues in the divorce that are preventing you from working towards negotiations.
Unrealistic expectations
There are some people that begin the divorce process thinking that decades of marital problems will be resolved in a few months. The reality is that a divorce cannot fix everything overnight. There are other people that may think they have a “simple divorce” and that everything is amicable so the process won’t take long. Managing your expectations will help speed up the divorce process.
Missed Deadlines
Cooperate with your attorney when it comes to getting documents in on time. If you are not cooperating with your lawyer to help provide the items they have asked for, it will slow down the divorce process. If you can collect the needed documents organized and get them back to the attorney, it will save you a lot of time and money.
Stubbornness
Sometimes people feel that they cannot be in the same room with their soon-to-be former spouse for safety or emotional reasons. Sometimes they are stubborn and just don’t want to work with their soon-to-be former spouse. Asking lawyers to serve as intermediaries wastes a lot of time and money. If you can’t be in the same room with someone, there are other methods of communication. Communicate through writing, instead of through the attorneys. Using email to communicate allows you time to prepare a very diplomatic and short response to address the actual issues at hand, but also helps people get around being stubborn.
The biggest obstacle that slows down a divorce case is usually you. Clients that deal with their emotional issues, have realistic expectations, don’t miss deadlines and are flexible are the clients that see their divorce resolved sooner than later.
