After making the decision to divorce, it’s important to start taking the steps to protect yourself and ensure that you don’t do anything now that will hurt you, your children or your future before you even file the divorce papers.

Protect Your Assets

When you formally begin your divorce, New York State Law requires you and your spouse to protect your marital assets. This means that you or your spouse cannot unilaterally transfer, sell or destroy any marital assets. What this really boils down to is that your spouse cannot empty your joint bank accounts, you cannot destroy his or her car, neither one of you can unilaterally sell the marital residence, etc.

Depending upon your personal situation, there are many things you should, or shouldn’t, do with regard to your assets. In order to more fully protect your assets, it is important to seek the advice of a Long Island Divorce Attorney. Contact us for a free consultation where we can discuss more fully your specific circumstances and let you know the exact steps you should be taking now to protect your assets and ensure you are properly compensated for your share of the marital assets.

Stay Off Social Media

As our firm has grown and changed with the times, Social Media has become a hot button topic that we must discuss with our clients. Today, the trend seems to be to put everything on Facebook, Twitter or other Social Media websites. Over-sharing is rampant and privacy seems to be a thing of the past. However, it is critical that during your Long Island Divorce, you go against the grain. For the sake of yourself and your children, we always advise our clients to remain silent on Social Media. While this may seem like a simple request, we find that some of our clients have a truly difficult time with this. Commonly, our client will see his or her spouse take to Facebook and will immediately want to reciprocate. In order for us to properly do our job, it is imperative that you resist the temptation and rise above.

There have been many instances in which we have been able to secure our clients a better result because of what his or her spouse has revealed on Social Media. You would be surprised how even a seemingly innocent post can be used against you in your divorce. Spouses will post pictures or update their status with things that can really put them in a bad spot. Let them do it. It only helps you and hurts them. Do not stoop to their level and negatively impact your own case.

What Does Your Attorney Need From You?

Many prospective clients wonder what their attorneys will need from them. When you schedule an initial consultation, the paperwork is usually comparatively light. If you have any documentation relating to your case, be that a Divorce Summons or an Order of Protection, it is very important that you bring it with you.

At our office, we also ask our new clients to begin to gather certain financial documents so that we can draft what is called a Statement of Net Worth, although you will not necessarily need to bring these documents to your initial consultation. In your Long Island Divorce, a Statement of Net Worth is a very important document, as the Court will base all financial awards off of it. After you decide to divorce, you should begin to calculate your monthly expenses – what you spend on gas, groceries, dry cleaning, electricity, water, etc. per month, as well as other expenses such as your gym membership or how often you dine out. Your divorce attorney will also need to see recent paystubs, tax returns from the last three years, any retirement accounts you may have and any debt you may find yourself in. We need you to be very open and honest about your current situation. We do not judge, we simply assess the facts and circumstances of your case and work diligently to protect you and your future.

When Should You Contact a Divorce Attorney?

Ideally, the best time to contact a divorce attorney would be as soon as you make the decision to divorce or receive divorce papers from your spouse. In either case, you need to make an appointment with a Divorce Attorney right away, as there are time constraints with regards to your divorce papers. You do not want your spouse to receive something he or she is not entitled to because you did not hire a Divorce Lawyer in time.

Getting in touch with a Divorce Attorney sooner rather than later can make all the difference in your Long Island Divorce. It is the only way to ensure that you and your assets are protected throughout the entirety of your divorce. At Hornberger Verbitsky, P.C., we are determined to lighten your load and ensure that you are protected from start to finish.