Ways to Safeguard Your Legal Rights in a Divorce
So you have finally made a decision and filed for a divorce in the court of law. The next step is to make it through the litigation process successfully so that you obtain a favorable verdict announcing your share of what is rightfully yours. However, in most of the cases, an individual is unable to stay active and fully understand the implication of the various legal tools and strategies that the other party might make use of in a bid to obtain an edge over the former. In order to protect yourself from falling into the trap of ignorance, you must develop a sound understanding of what your rights are and how your spouse might try to damage them. Although divorce mediation is often a great method of resolving divorce cases, it is not always the most appropriate method in certain circumstances, such as these below.
Conceal information
As participants to a divorce, both the contesting parties have the obligation of providing a comprehensive disclosure of all finances, assets, debts, and other relevant documents that might play a pivotal role in deciding the final verdict. If your spouse tries to illegally conceal, damage, transfer or destroy any relevant information, you have the right to inform the legal authorities about it and demand a discovery for uncovering any hidden assets or properties.
Physical violence or abuse
If in the frustration of trying to win the situation, your spouse resorts to violent measures such as physical or verbal abuse, harassment or threatening, you have the right to seek a restraining order from the court. There are several categories of restraining orders that are issued in accordance with the demand of the specific situation. In many cases, an abusive spouse can also be asked to move out of his or her marital home, and keep a stipulated distance from their partner.
Temporary court orders
If you feel that any of your legal rights are being violated by your spouse, you can also inform the matter to the legal authorities and request a temporary court order to obtain added protection. The court of law has the discretion of issuing temporary orders for controlling various aspects of a divorce, namely custody, visitation or property division if it deems necessary. These court orders are issued with a pre-defined date, after which they stand ineffective.
To learn more about the divorce process in California and how mediation can help, please visit our page, What is Divorce Mediation.
Gerald A. Maggio is a trained Orange County divorce mediator who has amicably resolved cases many cases out of court, as well as an experienced divorce and family law attorney. Mr. Maggio founded California Divorce Mediators in 2012 with the belief that although “not every marriage can be saved, every family can” and a mission to save families from the financial and emotional distress associated with traditional divorce litigation. California Divorce Mediators is located in Irvine, California, and serves the Orange County area and other counties in California offering divorce mediation, child custody mediation and mediation of other family law matters.
