Nobody enters into a divorce with the expectation that their marriage is going to fail. You may have a doubt or a suspicion that some aspects of your relationship with your spouse could potentially mean there could be trouble down the road. At the outset of a marriage is a lot of optimism and often very little in the way of planning how you and your spouse will resolve conflict. That is until conflict rears its ugly head and you and your spouse are ill-prepared to face it.
When your marriage shifts from one of being endless possibilities fortified by mutual love and respect to one of angst, anger, and hostility, the hope the early years of your marriage can become a memory. You start to plan for divorce at this stage and establish an exit plan. If you have children, they are likely a part of that exit plan, but for some parents, their exit plan becomes more about their survival than their children’s. Some of you who go through a divorce will end up doing well for yourselves after some time has passed. Others will struggle to confront problems that you thought would be alleviated by the divorce but ended up still plaguing you.
Begs the question: what is the difference between those who succeed despite divorce and those who struggle to adjust to a life they have chosen in many instances? Are there characteristics that those that farewell possess that those that struggle do not? Is it all dependent on attitude, or are there other factors at play? I want to answer these questions by sharing some perspectives that I have developed in my years as a Texas family law attorney.
Is yours a high-conflict marriage?
If you end a marriage where the high conflict between yourself and your spouse was the norm, you will likely be a happier person after your divorce. As I would put it, the bar is set relatively low as far as happiness is concerned. There is a great deal of stress associated with a high conflict relationship, and the greatest of these stresses is a daily threat to your safety. If you are concerned that you are going to be physically harmed on any given day, then you probably can’t achieve any level of happiness while you are still married.
How well do you do with changes in your routine?
This is the type of question that you may expect to receive on a job interview, but it is also relevant when discussing divorce in Texas. You need to ask yourself how well you will be able to adapt to changes to your routine. A divorce is certainly a change to your way, even a practice that is not necessarily one that is not necessarily a bad change for many of you.
If you are not a person who does handle change in routine well, that does not mean that you should not get a divorce or remain in a relationship that is not good for you. What it does mean, however, is that you need to be able to distinguish what your likelihood is of handling the transition well and identify how you can move into the camp of those that will succeed after divorce. What mindset do you have to be in to do well in your post-divorce life? If you are usually a creature of habit, this can be a tricky thing to do. However, you will never have peace of mind during your divorce case unless you can put yourself in a mindset that your post-divorce life will be one where you achieve positive outcomes for yourself and your family.
The key to this discussion is the ability for you to be able to make your own choices. Deciding where you can live, where you can work, the hours that you keep, the relationships you pursue, and even the opinions you hold can all be affected by the person you are married to. Each time you decide for yourself and do not have to check in with your spouse to do so can be an empowering and highly enriching experience. Not having done so in quite some time can be a rewarding aspect of divorce that you may not have even considered.
Another thing to consider is that you need to plan out how to take the steps necessary to improve your life after divorce. You can worry all you want about the change coming towards you at a rapid pace, but until you take the steps necessary to improve your life and plan for those changes, you will not be able to flourish in your post-divorce life. I have seen many people get to the end of their divorce with many question marks about their life outside of the divorce. If nothing else, your divorce case will provide you with a great deal of structure. If you don’t have children, then your post-divorce life may be missing the guardrails that temporary orders in a divorce provided you with.
How to improve your life while setting yourself up for success financially
So many people who go through a divorce have no way of paying attention to their post-divorce health because so much of their concern has to be on simply making it out of their divorce in one piece financially. Do you have to switch jobs? Or work a second job? What are you going to do about child support and making sure that your kids have medical coverage? If you cannot provide answers to all of these issues, probably, you will not be able to improve your life in other ways until you do.
Again, this comes back to an attitude in so many ways. It is much easier for you to be able to meet the challenges of a divorce head-on when you accept those changes and plan for their effect on your life. Many times I have seen that the spouse who does not want the divorce is the one who struggles coping with change both during the divorce and in the period immediately following the divorce. If this sounds like you, it may be worthwhile to pursue other relationships (platonic during the divorce) so that your energies can be focused elsewhere and not on the failing marriage.
Are there potential health consequences to your getting a divorce?
Whether or not you can handle the stress of a divorce depends on many factors that I am not really in a position to offer my opinion on. I can tell you what I have seen in my years as a family law attorney. Still, until you begin your case and see how you react to the divorce, there is nothing especially relevant that I can tell you about this subject as it pertains specifically to you.
How well you cope with divorce and your ability to bounce back after a difficult time in your life largely depends on your support system and the people that you have built up around you. These are the people that you will come to lean on in the months following your divorce. If you depended on your spouse to get you out of the house and into social situations, that is an obvious downside to divorce. Isolation is not typically something that I have seen to be a positive force for people going through a divorce.
You also have to look at your spouse’s family as a support system that you are losing. If you did not get along with your ex-spouse’s family, then this will not be much of a loss for you, but if you were close with your in-laws, a divorce would hurt you socially speaking. You will also need to work on maintaining friendships in the aftermath of your divorce. Many people find remaining friends with others who have not been through a divorce can be difficult.
As far as relationships with other people are concerned, I would like to mention that I have observed that men tend to lose contact with their children after divorce more times than I would care to report. Fathers are not typically named as the parent who gets to determine the primary residence of their children, and as such, they will be awarded visitation rights. If you are a father reading this blog post, I recommend that you take advantage of every opportunity presented to you as far as seeing your children is concerned.
Balancing single parenthood with the need to be social
I have seen many parents who have to focus on their children lose out on the therapeutic aspects of having a social life after a divorce has concluded. If you are awarded the right to determine the primary residence of your children, then you will be tasked with significant responsibility. It is a responsibility that you likely fought for in your divorce, but it is a responsibility nonetheless. Any chance you have at venturing out into the world to unwind after a divorce and seek solace in relationship building will have been lost.
Committing yourself to be available for your children than turning around and participating in the transportation of your children back and forth between your home and the home of your child’s other parent can be highly stressful. Ironically, it is at work that many divorced parents find the most significant degree of social release after a divorce. You can seek support from your co-workers and can lose yourself in your work for periods. Your employer may be the one place you can get together with other adults to build relationships and focus your energies on something other than your family and your divorce.
Financial issues and divorce: what are you likely to encounter in your case?
As a two-income household, your standard of living is higher than it would be as a single adult. Now add in the fact that much of the day-to-day expenses of childcare will be yours to handle, as well as uncertainty around the child support payments that you receive. You have a recipe for financial insecurity in the period after your divorce.
In tomorrow’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we will pick up with our last topic in our weeklong discussion on divorce and its after-effects. What can you expect to occur financially after a divorce? There are many factors at play, and we will see how many affect you when we pick up where we left off in tomorrow’s blog post.
Questions about divorce, family law, or adjusting to life after court? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
If you are searching for answers to problems that revolve around family law in Texas, you need to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan today. We work on behalf of people like you and families like yours from across southeast Texas. We are in the family courts in every county in our area, and we take pride in the results that we achieve on behalf of our clients.
We offer free of charge consultations six days a week with our licensed family law attorneys. These consultations are an excellent opportunity to meet with an experienced family law attorney to go over the circumstances of your case and receive information that is tailored to suit you and your family. We can share perspectives that you cannot get anywhere else. A phone calls to our office and makes a world of difference in your life. We invite you to contact us today.
Bryan Fagan, a native of Atascocita, Texas, is a dedicated family law attorney inspired by John Grisham’s “The Pelican Brief.” He is the first lawyer in his family, which includes two adopted brothers. Bryan’s commitment to family is personal and professional; he cared for his grandmother with Alzheimer’s while completing his degree and attended the South Texas College of Law at night.
Married with three children, Bryan’s personal experiences enrich his understanding of family dynamics, which is central to his legal practice. He specializes in family law, offering innovative and efficient legal services. A certified member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, Bryan is part of an elite group of legal professionals committed to ongoing education and high-level expertise.
His legal practice covers divorce, custody disputes, property disputes, adoption, paternity, and mediation. Bryan is also experienced in drafting marital property agreements. He leads a team dedicated to complex family law cases and protecting families from false CPS allegations.
Based in Houston, Bryan is active in the Houston Family Law Sector of the Houston Bar Association and various family law groups in Texas. His deep understanding of family values and his professional dedication make him a compassionate advocate for families navigating Texas family law.
