Getting a divorce can be emotionally taxing on everyone involved. While you might be able to keep your cool, your spouse, on the other hand, might not. Unfortunately, the emotions they may be feeling might lead to a few very petty actions. These antics can make your divorce all the more complicated for both of you. To help with this, we’ve put together a few tips for handling spousal pettiness…
Handling Spousal Pettiness: Avoiding Anger in Divorce
Limit Communication
Effective communication is an important part of a successful divorce. However, when divorcing an upset spouse, they might make it hard for that communication to be worthwhile. Once your spouse has decided they no longer want to discuss things in a polite manner, then it’s time for a new approach of handling spousal pettiness. Hiring a divorce lawyer, especially one who has experience with difficult cases and clients, will allow for you to direct all needed communication through them. This allows for the communication to remain open, while also avoiding your spouse’s harsh feelings. If you need to negotiate with your spouse, then using a court mediator will help to keep things civil.
Secure Your Accounts
Handling spousal pettiness might become more complicated if they try to find ways to cause difficulty in your day-to-day life. For example, your angry spouse might try and lock you out of bank accounts and credit cards. Your spouse might be trying to do this as a way to “punish” you and prevent the divorce. If you find yourself in this situation, it is good to get your name on any accounts beforethe divorce to help get around this. You should also make sure to do this for any retirement accounts too so you still have access to them in the future.
Enforcing the Rules
Handling spousal pettiness can also involve dealing with your spouse when they’re acting irresponsible during the proceedings. Sometimes, your spouse might refuse to provide information. If they do provide information, it might be incomplete or lacking key details. They might ignore orders and requests, such as paying temporary support.
Thankfully, this doesn’t mean you can’t do anything. Your lawyer can bring this stonewalling to the attention of the courts. Then, they can file motions to compel discovery, to garnish wages, or even to hold your spouse in contempt. Despite what your spouse might think, they can’t get around the courts.
Divorcing a petty spouse makes divorce all the more stressful…
However, it is important to not get caught up in your spouse’s negativity. Trying to get “revenge” will only lead to you spending more money and more energy than you have too. Instead, using these tactics for handling spousal pettiness will allow you to move on after your divorce with your head held high.
