5 Important Steps When Going Through A Divorce

Divorce isn't always cut and dry. There are many small steps that need to be taken right away to help organize the process and protect yourself financially. Here are five important steps you should be taking right away:

1. Organize Financial Paperwork: The first thing you are going to want to do is organize all of your financial paperwork. This include bank statements, tax returns, paperwork involving your retirement and investing accounts, and more. When you do this, you can bring all the organized paperwork to your divorce attorney so that they know right away how to go about protecting your finances. 
2. Set Up Alerts on Credit Cards: Since your spouse likely has access to your credit cards, you want to set up alerts that indicate when these credit cards are being used without your permission. Even if you trust your spouse, this is still a good idea because you just never know. You don't want your credit to be in bad standing, after all once. the divorce is finalized. 
3. Set Aside Money for Legal Fees: Since you are going to want to hire a divorce attorney to protect your rights, you need to set aside some money for their services. This money will only be used for your legal fees and it ensures that your spouse is not taking that money away from you, so be sure that you set this aside right away. 
4. Open a P.O Box: To ensure that your mail is not being compromised either, you should set up a P.O box that only you have access to. You never know what kind of mail you can get that your spouse can use against you in the divorce case. 
5. Review Your Estate Plan: Now that you are going through a divorce, you are probably going to want to adjust your estate plan when it comes to who is getting what when you pass. This way, if something happens to you even now, your money is going where you want it to instead of being controlled by your ex-spouse. 

When you follow these five steps when going through a dire, you can be sure that you end up with a more organized and well planned out divorce so that your rights are better protected. This way, the process does not have to be so stressful for yourself. On top of this, it makes it easier for your divorce attorney to help you with the process, as well. 

Contact a divorce attorney for more information and assistance.