Tips for Navigating a High-Conflict Divorce

Every divorce has the potential to gain momentum and become high conflict, but if your divorce begins at the high conflict mark, you should expect serious complications and should proceed with caution. One of the most important steps you can take in protection of your parental and financial rights is consulting with an experienced divorce attorney in the Chicago area early in the process. 

Clear Communication Is Key

If you are already classifying your divorce as high conflict, you can almost certainly rule out negotiating the terms of your divorce between yourselves. As such, you’re going to need to take a proactive approach. One of the best practices is simply leaving the negotiating to your dedicated divorce attorney who will implement their impressive legal insight and skills on behalf of your divorce priorities and best interests by engaging in focused negotiations with your divorcing spouse’s attorney.

Day-to-Day Communications

If you and your divorcing spouse share children, you will almost certainly need to find a way to communicate with one another regarding the schedule changes and concerns that inevitably arise. If your divorce is high conflict, speaking on the phone may be out of the question, but any of the following can serve as an excellent substitute:

• Sticking strictly to texts or emails to communicate when it’s necessary to do so
• Employing one of the many co-parenting scheduling apps out there, which can prove to be an invaluable tool
• Employing a Parenting Coordinator to assist in your communications and coordinate between parents when there are disputes

What you don’t want to do is put your children in the middle and have them do your communicating for you. The stress of divorce tends to be especially hard on children, which makes protecting them in every way possible paramount  

The Terms of Your Divorce

Every divorcing couple must address each of the following divorce terms that applies in their unique situation:

• Parental responsibilities and parenting time, or what you may think of as legal and physical custody
• Child support
• The division or marital property
• Alimony  

Any one of these has the potential to become a high conflict issue, but if more than one of them has become contentious, the matter can be that much more complex.   

Setting Your Divorce Priorities

Having clear divorce priorities is important for anyone who is going through a divorce, but if yours is high conflict, it can be that much more important. When you recognize what your priorities are in relation to your divorce terms, it affords you the leverage necessary to strategize the surest path forward and can help take the focus off the drama that high conflict divorces tend to generate.

It’s Time to Consult with an Experienced Divorce Attorney in the Chicago Area

If you are facing a high conflict divorce, you need a savvy divorce attorney with a wide range of experience skillfully guiding challenging high conflict divorces like yours toward optimal outcomes, and Hammer Serna & Quinn – proudly serving the Chicago area – is well positioned to deliver. For more information about what we can do to help you, please don’t put off contacting us today.