What control do you have over your Louisville divorce? What is “control” in terms of a Louisville or Jefferson County divorce, and why is it essential to evaluate the issue of “control” in terms of the end of your marriage?
What is “control?” In the context of your divorce, control has more to do with your ability to govern your emotions and communications and maintain focus on decisions that will affect or influence the outcome of the matter at hand in your divorce. Divorce isn’t an “all or nothing” or an “everything at once” proposition. It is more of a managed conversation regarding all of the essential issues and components that will be addressed in the “Separation Agreement,” as well as the “permanent” orders the Judge will issue throughout and at the conclusion of your divorce process.
A divorce in Kentucky cannot be finalized until all issues within the separation agreement have been fully resolved. The specifics are unique to your divorce. However, these matters include:
- Matters involving the children, including child custody and visitation, as well as child support (if any)
- Equitable marital property division, including all assets, debts, retirement accounts, and pensions, as well as any interest in a business or professional practice
- Spousal support or Maintenance, as well as any orders for the recipient to become self-sustaining
What control do you have over your Louisville divorce? How can you best manage the process and achieve the goals and objectives that are most important to you? The experienced divorce and family law attorneys at Dodd and Dodd have decades of service in these cases throughout the greater Louisville area. We can share, based on that experience, that most divorce cases approach the start of the process with some level of disagreement regarding the outcome each former spouse desires and the goals that are most important to them. In many cases, the level of disagreement or the flexibility and skill of the parties themselves provide an atmosphere where the differences can be resolved through negotiation or mediation. In other cases, especially those involving controlling personalities or personality disorders such as narcissism, one or both of the parties become entrenched in a position on the matter at hand, and the process to resolve it involves more time (and more cost).
Based upon our extensive experience across decades of service to Louisville area Family Court cases and our clients, we can share two crucial elements of every divorce:
The cost of your case and the amount of time it takes to complete your divorce are directly related to the amount of disagreement between you and your spouse on any/every issue within the separation agreement and your ability to work through a challenge and reach resolution, and,
Our clients who can manage a broad range of emotions and focus their responses constructively and productively enjoy a much smoother, quicker, and less expensive divorce process. They are also more likely to abide by the agreements associated with their divorce and move forward with their lives, thereby reducing the need for expensive and time-consuming post-decree litigation.
If your goal is to complete your divorce in a timely, cost-efficient manner while protecting the things that are nearest and dearest to your heart, it will be necessary to work through and ideally reach an agreement on every single issue in the separation agreement. This can be accomplished in one of several ways, including:
- negotiation between the parties themselves
- talks between the parties and their counsel
- mediation resulting in agreement upon a given issue, or every issue in the separation agreement
- trial before the Judge in your case
What control do you have over your Louisville divorce? You can choose to develop a process to help you to control every communication. You can build skills and strategies to reduce or calm tensions, clear your mind, and work through the immediate challenge at hand. You can work with your attorney from Dodd & Dodd to establish specific goals, the priorities that are most important to you. You can bring the best possible version of yourself to each step of the process, knowing that is the best, proven strategy to accomplish your own goals and to manage the things that are most important to you now and in the future in your life.
We invite you to review the strong recommendations of our former clients and the legal industry and contact Dodd & Dodd or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys.
