There are many ways that the unwary can damage their case. Often it happens when you’re tired and a lapse in judgement occurs.

Sometimes it’s something that was simply overlooked. Here are six tips for avoiding these mistakes.

1.) Be careful of well meaning legal advice from friends. Although they have your best interests at heart, your friends simply lack the proper expertise. Get your advice from an experienced divorce lawyer with a good record. Amateur advice will do more harm than good.

2.) Confidential messages from your lawyer for your eyes only being intercepted by your wife and her lawyer could be disastrous. This is why you need to change any jointly shared phone numbers, email, and land mail addresses as soon as possible.

3.) Never send original documents when your wife’s lawyer asks for details of your financial records. Send copies of your documents. Always keep the originals in a safe place.

4.) For both parents and children, divorces are trying times. However, the key to a quick and successful divorce settlement is organization and focus. Maintain a calm and clear head and move forward with your plan. Avoid arguments and confrontation with your ex.

5.) Staying calm and rational is essential during the divorce process. Winning a successful divorce settlement demands it. Anger on the other hand, can make you seem dangerous and unstable which can bias a judge in favor of your ex wife. There’s enough bias in the system in favor of your ex wife. No need to bias things further.

Anger isn’t the only emotion to avoid. Guilt over the divorce can be just as damaging to your case. It may prompt you to make promises to your ex that you can’t keep.

6.) Whenever it’s necessary to communicate with your ex, keep a log of what was said. Include the date, time, and the length of the conversation. Failure to keep a log allows opportunities to slip away. Something said may prove to be beneficial to your case later on.

Keeping your expenses under control during a divorce is vital. Therefore right from the very start or perhaps even before that you need to be planning how to keep your expenditures from escalating.

This post offers six tips to reduce the cost of divorce so that you can get through your divorce with your finances intact.

1.) There is a possibility that half of your pension may get awarded to your wife. The best way to minimize this loss is to halt all payments into your plan until after the divorce is final.

2.) When you know that a divorce is definite, arrange to separate all joint access to money and credit. This means credit and debit cards in both of your names as well as joint savings and checking accounts. You may be liable for all debts incurred before the divorce becomes final. Your partner may try to drain your savings and run up a big debt if this precaution isn’t taken.

3.) Time spent with your lawyer costs money. This is important to remember during meetings where both you and your wife and your lawyers are present. Therefore minor arguments escalating out of control must be avoided. Issues decided in advance that both you and your lawyer have agreed to discuss should be adhered to.

4.) There is no need for you to be making car payments and insuring the car that your wife used. It’s typical between couples that each person has a car that they consider ‘theirs’ because of usage. Therefore each person gets to have ‘their’ car and must re-registered it in their name. Insurance and ongoing payments for their car is then assumed by the person.

5.) The family home should be occupied by the children and the person with custody over them. The mortgage for the house is then assumed by this person. Otherwise, sell and split the proceeds for the house.

6.) Make a list of all debts and assets that you and your wife share before filing for divorce. This list should include all credit debts and unpaid bills as well as shared property and joint accounts. This list becomes a useful aid when talking with your partner how to divide up both the assets and the debt between you.

Preparing for divorce is the last thing a couple would think about when they first get married.

Yet the statistics suggest that every newly wed couple has a 40 to 50 percent chance of getting divorced.

Divorces are emotionally painful, complicated, consume a lot of time and often a lot of money. They are frequently a contest over income and assets.

Although the courts favor the woman, it is the party that prepared for their divorce by doing their homework, using the right planning and strategy that wins a favorable settlement over how this income and assets get divided up.

1.) The first step is to separate out personal assets from those that are shared jointly in the marriage. These ‘non marital assets’ include personal gifts you’ve received, inherited property, items that were yours prior to the marriage, and worker’s compensation.

These assets are not divided up in a divorce but are considered to be yours and normally will be awarded to you. Don’t allow these assets to be commingled in with your spouse’s assets as it will be much more difficult to claim them in a divorce.

2.) Next, keep separate records of both yours and your partner’s financial holdings. These include bank accounts, stocks, IRA’s, and land. Store these records in a safe place such as a safety deposit box. This is also a good time to save any information that came from or is about your spouse. This means joint bank statements, notes, records, and letters. Save the information no matter how trivial it seems to you. It’s usefulness can only be assessed by your lawyer.

3.) The third step is to arrange to cancel all joint access to both money and credit as soon as it’s certain that you’re going through with the divorce. This means debit and credit cards in both of your names and all joint checking and savings accounts. You may be liable for any new debts incurred by your partner on joint credit cards before the divorce is finalized.

4.) Finally, nothing is more vital than finding the services of a good lawyer when getting a divorce. In addition to experience in divorce law, the lawyer should be someone you can trust. This person should be working with your best interests in mind and should be willing to answer all of your questions. Before deciding on a lawyer you should contact several first.

While you are getting on with your divorce, don’t forget the importance of looking after your own health, both physical and emotional.