If you are one of the fortunate ones, you and your spouse will continue to be able to communicate effectively while navigating your way through a New Mexico divorce. When a married couple can take a businesslike amicable approach to divorce, there are typically a multitude of benefits for both spouses, which include less expense, less stress, reduced impact on your children and a shorter divorce process. Unfortunately, some divorces proceed like the parties are at war with a high degree of animosity and conflict.
Difficult divorces typically arise out of a situation where the anger and resentment felt by one or both of the spouses motivates a spouse to exact his or her “pound of flesh” or where there are particularly challenging issues that increase the probability of contentious litigation. Some of the types of issues that increase the probability that the divorce will be more complicated and potentially more contentious include:

High Conflict Custody Disputes:

When parents both want to be the primary residential parent, custody disputes can become extremely contentious. While it is not surprising that parents may tend to fight more aggressively when their desire to have their child reside in their home is contested, there are certain types of allegations that can make these cases particularly toxic. These especially problematic issues usually involve allegations that one of the parties is an unfit parent because of substance abuse, domestic violence, physical abuse or neglect, sexual abuse or certain types of felony convictions. Because these types of allegations carry a negative stigma and can result in limited supervised visitation, these cases will often be extremely contentious and require the appointment of a guardian ad litem for the children and/or a mental health professional to conduct a child custody evaluation.

Divorces Involving Family Businesses & Professional Practices:

When one of the parties to a divorce owns his or her own medical practice, dental practice or other business, the valuation and division of the business can be an extremely complex process. A forensic accountant may be necessary to obtain an accurate business valuation so that an appropriate division of community property can be achieved. When one spouse is primarily responsible for managing a business, there is also the possibility that a spouse will use the business to divert income and assets so more extensive discovery often is necessary.

Request for Long-Term Alimony:

When the parties have been involved in a long-term marriage where one of the spouses was the primary wage-earner and the other spouse focused on taking care of the family home and children, the issue of long-term alimony may be contentious. The calculation of alimony involves an analysis of many statutory factors including consideration of the standard of living during the marriage and potential earning capacity of the spouse seeking spousal support. When the likelihood that the court will award long-term alimony is high, this may result in a trial to establish the appropriate alimony award.

The above information is provided to illustrate general principles of law and should not be interpreted as a specific legal opinion on an individual case. You should contact experienced legal counsel to get specific legal advice that is based upon your specific circumstances.

The New Mexico Divorce Law Firm of Jay Goodman & Associates offers a free consultation in our centrally located offices in Santa Fe and Albuquerque so that we can discuss your options. Call us today to schedule your free consultation at (505) 989-8117 to learn about your rights and options.

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