Start Your New Life After Divorce By Taking the Right Steps
Once your divorce process is finalized, you will likely feel nervous and confused about your next steps. Walking into your new life after a divorce can be scary and exciting at the same time. To start this next chapter of your life on the right foot, you should take certain precautionary steps first.
Let’s take a look at the top five things you should do after your divorce is finalized.
1. Review and Comply with Your Divorce Decree
The first matter you need to take care of after divorce is following the Judgement of Divorce that was issued. This means that you have to comply with the asset division, custody matters, and any other details that were decided on in your Divorce Decree. Your parenting plan, support payments, and parenting schedule will be effective immediately, and you should make sure you are not breaching the freshly signed contract.
2. Make Proper Accommodations for Yourself
The second matter you need to attend to is your personal housing and financial accommodation. Now that you are no longer living with a partner, you will have to make the necessary adjustments to your life so you can start living on your own. In some cases, you may have to switch jobs or start working full-time instead of part-time. In other cases, you may need to enroll in courses and gain skills so you can enhance your career and increase your salary to meet your daily expenses.
Once you have a proper source of income and you have found a place to live that is in your budget, you can begin enjoying your new life.
3. Update Your Personal Information with All Relevant Institutions
Another very important step that needs to be applied after divorce, is updating the relevant agencies with the new changes to your life. You will have to contact your bank, DMV, and social security institutions, to let them know you changed your address or your phone number.
If you are going back to your maiden name, then you will have to make this significant update as well and initiate the name change process as soon as possible. When making these changes, you should also double back and confirm you have closed all joint bank accounts and joint credit cards, so you do not end up incurring a loan that is not yours. To prevent legal complications from arising, you need to make sure your ex-partner no longer has access to anything that is under your name.
4. Update Your Estate Plan
You should also get in touch with your life insurance providers and change the beneficiaries on the policy and create a new will. This will ascertain that your ex-spouse does not get access to your wealth in the event that you lose your life while they are still alive.
5. Don’t Be Shy to Ask for Help
Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s never easy stepping into a new life after something as traumatic as a divorce. You should reach out to family and friends and receive as much help as you can to get back on your feet.
It is also a good idea to connect with a family law attorney to make sure all your loose ends have been tied up properly before you begin your next chapter of life.
Get in Touch with an Experienced Family Law Attorney in CT Today
If you have just concluded a divorce, you need to take care of a few important matters before starting your new life. You need to ensure you are following your divorce decree, you have made accommodations for yourself, and that you have updated all the relevant institutions and your legal will with your new information. It is also very important for you to step up and ask for help when you feel like life has become too overwhelming for you to bear.
Contact family lawyer, Heidi Opinsky, at the Law Offices of Heidi Opinsky, LLC, today to get professional legal help before, during, and after your divorce.
Visit our website to send us a message or call 203-653-3542 now and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
References:
1. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/marriage-divorce.htm