Please read on, then contact an experienced Ocean County divorce attorney to learn what you should do now that your spouse has asked you for a divorce.
How do you respond to your spouse requesting a divorce?
Unless your spouse is willing to go to marriage counseling or discernment counseling or engage in marital mediation to try and repair your relationship, there is not much you can do to stop a divorce process from happening. That is not to say that you do not have options as to how you should proceed. If your spouse asks for a divorce, you should do the following:
- Educate yourself: Ignoring the divorce will not change things, so you should learn as much as possible about the divorce process, your options and how best to promote the best interests of you and your children.
- Empower yourself: You may feel sad, scared, shocked or any one of a range of emotions, but you should not let it debilitate you and prevent you from hiring a skilled Ocean County family law attorney who will fight for you, your children and your collective best interests.
- Be open to exploring less confrontational options like mediation or collaborative divorce: While you might be well within your rights to contest every aspect of the divorce, extracting every concession from your spouse, this approach may leave you and your children financially and emotionally bankrupt. By engaging in mediation or a collaborative divorce, you can minimize the possibility of these types of bankruptcy.
What is involved in mediation and collaborative divorce?
Mediation involves the intercession of a neutral third party who will meet with you and your spouse in an informal setting to discuss the terms of your divorce, such as the child custody arrangement, spousal support payments, division of assets and more. A collaborative divorce is similar and has much the same purpose, except it is slightly more formal and couched in more official language. While you may have your reasons for contesting a divorce, i.e. abuse or financial dependence on your spouse, this option tends to result in a longer, costlier and more stressful divorce.
Please do not hesitate to give us a call today, so we can inform you of your rights and responsibilities and help set you on the path to a more favorable outcome.
Contact our experienced Ocean County firm
Matters of divorce and family law require the attention and skill of an experienced attorney who will fight for your future. Not only is your financial well-being at stake, but in a divorce, both you and your children’s emotional well-being are at risk as well. If you need a divorce and family law attorney in Ocean County, New Jersey, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Sarina Gianna, LLC today to schedule a consultation.
