It is common that a divorce can bring out your partner’s animosity or they hire a lawyer that has an ego or just operates in an aggressive or pushy way, which can lead to harassment and bullying. When you are going through a divorce, however, you shouldn’t have to handle the bullying on your own. A divorce is stressful enough without the other party wearing you down. One of the top reasons why you shouldn’t file your own divorce is to ensure you have a legal support system on your side.
Bullying During Divorce
Bullies use the legal process to abuse their spouse. Bullies may seem confident, but it usually stems from insecurities and other deeply embedded emotions. Spouses often become bullies so they can regain control after the other spouse has filed for divorce. Bullies may engage in behavior such as withholding money, making false allegations, refusing to abide by court orders or delaying the divorce process. Dealing with a bully can be frustrating, but it’s possible to get through it. In most cases, it is temporary. But to remain only a temporary issue, it becomes crucial to have legal counsel such as a capable Georgia divorce lawyer to set a plan for the future and send a message that any bullying tactics will not continue.
You can diffuse the situation of a bullying spouse by blocking out the negative comments. Distract yourself and tell yourself that you won’t let the comments hurt you. If you have a divorce lawyer by your side you don’t have to talk to the other party at all and can leave that communication to your capable, experienced divorce attorney. Understand your spouse’s motives. If your spouse is saying mean things, it’s because he or she wants something from you. They want you to settle on something, and they’re trying to scare you into doing so. Be the bigger person and agree to settle on something that may not matter to you, but matters a lot to your spouse. Look for small things that won’t affect you in the long run.
Why You Need a Lawyer
As humans, we need outlets to vent our frustrations. If we keep everything bottled up inside, it only makes matters worse. One tiny thing can suddenly cause us to explode. You don’t want that to happen during a divorce. It’s essential that you create a support system with personal and professional resources. Friends and family are personal resources who can help you vent your frustrations, while a lawyer can listen to any ideas or suggestions you may have. A lawyer is a professional resource who will be there throughout the divorce to listen to you.
Your lawyer is on your side who is there to fight your battle with you. Your lawyer can help you manage your bullying spouse or their attorney by serving as your voice. Lawyers know how to deal with difficult people, so when you’re tired of dealing with your bully husband or wife or their attorney, let your lawyer take over.
The Importance of a Lawyer if You Are Being Bullied
When you file a divorce yourself, you will need to deal directly with the other spouse, who may choose to bully you throughout the process. Without a lawyer, this will only add stress to the process. You can prevent this by hiring a Georgia divorce attorney. Your divorce lawyer will serve as your advocate. He or she can shield you from the bully’s attacks so you can focus on taking care of yourself and your children, if applicable.
Some of the most frustrating and saddest instances for our office at Mitchell & Crunk is when someone comes into the office and they are either considering signing divorce documents that are not helpful or fair to them but they are considering signing them anyways because they are tired of the spouse harassing and basically bullying them. Sometimes they don’t even see the bullying. Or worse when someone comes to us that had been divorced months or years ago and they aren’t happy with their divorce terms and want them changed and we see how unfairly and even bullied they had been in the divorce and didn’t do anything about it but just put up with it until they are tired of it and give up. Some stories of even sitting in their spouses law office for 6-8 hours being pushed to agree to their spouse’s terms of divorce that they didn’t like.
You don’t need to put up with this kind of treatment during your divorce.