Divorce is a process that people are often going through for the first time. As a result, they will turn to friends and family members. They may know someone who got divorced in the past, and then they will ask this individual for any advice or tips that can help.
It’s certainly understandable why this happens, but it’s also true that this type of advice can be problematic. For example, in some cases, friends and family members may repeat common divorce myths. They mean well, but they’re actually misleading you. Let’s take a look at what two of those myths are so that you know to avoid them.
You’re going to lose your retirement account
First of all, many people who are getting divorced have been saving up for retirement with their spouse. In fact, their spouse may have a pension plan or some other type of retirement plan through their job. What the other spouse worries about is asking for a divorce and then losing access to this account.
The important thing to note is that you can use a qualified domestic relations order to split up this account. A QDRO can be applied today and then the account can be divided in the future, after the working spouse retires and starts collecting on their plan.
Your spouse can stop the divorce by not responding
If your spouse doesn’t want to get divorced, they may think that they can avoid it by simply not responding to the divorce papers or not going to court. They may tell you that they’re simply going to ignore the proceedings and that you can’t get a divorce since they don’t agree.
However, you can usually get a default divorce without your spouse’s input. This can make it take longer, and it may make the divorce more complicated, but there’s no way for your spouse to actually prevent you from getting divorced. If this is something that you would like to do, it is always an option.
What steps should you take?
These are just two myths of many. Be sure you carefully consider them as you look into all of the legal steps you will need to take.