Deciding that your marriage is over brings up a lot of emotions for most people. When you make the decision to divorce, you need to understand exactly what it is going to do. This might have an impact on whether you choose to divorce or to separate.
A divorce legally ends your marriage permanently. With this comes a host of impacts that you need to be prepared for. During the divorce process, you will likely have to work with your ex to get certain points decided.
Alimony payments, which are also known as spousal support, is one of the factors you will have to decide when you are divorcing. These payments are made from one party to the other and have specific conditions. For example, if you get remarried, alimony payments will stop. The same might be true if you have a significant other move in with you even you don’t get remarried.
You will have to work through who hangs on to which assets and debts. This is sometimes one of the more difficult decisions that has to be made during the divorce.
You will also have to come up with a parenting plan. This is where you will turn to find out when you have your children and who is responsible for making decisions about the children.
As you are coming up with the terms of these decisions, you need to remember that the divorce settlement is permanent. It is possible to get some terms, such as the parenting plan or alimony, changed, but this isn’t usually the case for property division and some other terms. You must be certain you agree to what you are signing and understand the ways it can impact you.
Source: FindLaw, “What Is Divorce Good For?,” accessed Nov. 09, 2017
