Get Ahead in Your Personal Injury Case

Why You Need To Be Careful With Unsolicited Advice During Divorce

23 January 2018 by Kenneth Pierce

If you are going through a divorce, you should be prepared for tons of unsolicited advice from your family members, colleagues, and friends. Unfortunately, you need to be wary of such advice because:

They May Be Speaking Based On Their Experiences

If you are receiving unsolicited advice from a divorced person, then it's possible that they are speaking based on their experiences. Unfortunately, such advice is flawed because no two divorces are the same. Maybe they got the marital home because they had lots of marital assets and could afford to give up some of those assets during property division, but your situation is different.

They Don't Have the Whole Picture

Another reason you should be wary of unsolicited advice is that those giving it are unlikely to be privy to the whole picture. If you are like most people, then you probably don't go around explaining your marital problems (in detail) to all acquaintances and relatives. If that's the case, then the advice they are giving you is based on partial information, making the advice fundamentally flawed.

They May Be Ignorant Of Divorce Laws

It is especially dangerous to listen to legal advice from those who don't have the requisite education or experience. If they are telling you which applications you need to make and how you need to behave in court, and they are not your divorce lawyer, then you should treat whatever they are telling you as mere gossip. Don't put such advice into practice before getting confirmation from a credible source (your lawyer).

They May Tell You What You Want To Hear

Sometimes, people give divorce advice not because they know they are right, but because they want to comfort you. Unfortunately, someone who is comforting you may just be interested in telling you what they are convinced you want to hear. So, when such a person tells you should not worry about getting custody of the kid because it's a done deal, it is not that they know it to be so, but they just don't want you to worry. Your lawyer, on the other hand, will zero in on the potential difficulties of your child custody quest and figure out how to overcome them.

They May Be From Other States

Lastly, you should know that divorce laws vary by state. Therefore, the person giving you unsolicited advice may be well-meaning and right as per as their state's laws are concerned, but not your state's divorce laws. Maybe they are from a community property state where all assets acquired during a marriage are marital property but you are from a common law state where assets in your name are your separate property.

Share

Search