Top 10 Things You Should Do Before Filing for Divorce in North Carolina

Filing for Divorce in North Carolina
https://www.mcilveenfamilylaw.com/north-carolina/charlotte/
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Hi, I'm Angela McIlveen, and the one thing I know as you're watching this video right now, you're thinking about divorce. I understand you're scared, and you're worried, and you're wondering, "What are the first things I need to think about?"

I want to talk to you today about the 10 things you should do before you even think about filing for divorce or moving out of your house. Now, I may not get to all ten, if I don't, you can always find those on our website.

The first thing I need to tell you about might surprise you. My first suggestion is that you talk to a marriage counselor or a counselor that can help you through this. Getting divorced is an emotional experience. It's not just courtroom stuff. This is your life. If you don't know of a counselor or you don't have someone that you trust, you can call our office and we can put you in touch with someone that's good to talk to.

The second thing is to consult with an attorney. It doesn't have to be our office. Find someone local to you if you don't live in our area, but talk to an attorney. Everything in family law is facts. It's all related to your specific things going on in your life, and not necessarily things that you can find on a website or that you can learn on your own. An attorney can give you good advice and tell you what your best options are. He can help you prevent you from making a lot of mistakes, too.

The third thing is to think about your finances. Do you have your own credit card, your own line of credit, are you solely depend on your spouse for your credit? If you don't have credit on your own, now is the time to get it before you get divorced and find it difficult to get credit on your own.

The other thing is that if you don't have your own bank account, you may want to go ahead and open that now. Start putting money in there so that you have some reserves to live on when you leave. The worst feeling is when you walk out the door and you find that you can't even afford to retain an attorney because you don't have access to any of the bank accounts. Be sure to set that up now. You can also run a credit report for yourself. There's ways to do that for free online and check and see what your credit situation is.

Are there loans that you don't know about on your credit? Do you have some joint accounts that no one mentioned? This is the time to know that, right now, before you even start the process of divorce. It's also a good time to start making a budget. Decide on how you're going to live on one income versus the two that you are used to. If you haven't done those things, do those now.

The fourth thing is to find out about your spouse's income. We find all the time here in our business that people don't know what each other make. You don't know exactly what bonuses he's paid or when he's paid, or you may not know exactly what she makes or what her hourly rate is or whether she always gets 40 hours.

Once you move out, it's really hard to get those documents and it takes a lot of time. Right now, you can look at your tax returns, you can make copies of those documents, you might be able to get W2s out of your house and make copies of those documents, and you can start checking your bank account and direct deposits and seeing how much is coming in each week. The starting point for getting divorced is to know your situation.

I've got about 6 other tips that are great for you before you even start thinking about filing for divorce. You can visit our website at https://www.mcilveenfamilylaw.com/north-carolina/charlotte/ to learn more.

Видео Top 10 Things You Should Do Before Filing for Divorce in North Carolina канала McIlveen Family Law