As this blog has discussed before, in the event of a divorce, a married couple’s property will have to be divided according to the community property laws in force in Texas.
What this means is that a resident of the Killeen and Fort Hood area is going to have to live with the reality that they will be dealing with some financial challenges after a divorce since they will have about half of their assets. They will also be without the benefit of their spouse’s income or other financial support, and they may be making alimony and child support payments.
There are right and wrong ways to deal with this sort of situation. Handling the financial pinch that a divorce causes in an improper fashion can lead not only to aggravated financial trouble but, in some cases, even legal problems.
For instance, trying to forget about one’s financial woes by incurring a whole bunch of new bills and expenditures obviously solves nothing in the long term, even if doing so makes someone feel better for a few weeks. Moreover, depending on the circumstances, this sort of behavior can lead to an allegation that the person who did it dissipated marital assets and thus should face an appropriate consequence.
Another common mis-step, even if not motivated by revenge or spite, is to use a divorce as the occasion to quit one’s high-paying position to go and do something he or she really likes, albeit for a lot less money.
Financially, taking a pay cut in order to pursue one’s dream makes little sense in the midst of what is already a challenge to one’s pocketbook. Moreover, a judge could see such an action as voluntary unemployment or underemployment, which could mean that a person winds up without their high-paying job but with a very high alimony and child support bill based on their original salary.
Perhaps the best way to avoid making critical financial mistakes during a divorce is to seek out the advice of an experienced family law attorney.