This series on abusive tactics in divorcing couples exposes all of the common potential elements that can cause a family to incur devastating financial and emotional wounding in the divorce court process. We have explored financial abuse, verbal/emotional abuse, physical abuse and today in part 4 we will discuss legal abuse in divorce; the abuse and manipulation of the legal process by a spouse as an attempt to reach an advantageous divorce settlement outcome for the abusive partner.

Legal Abuse in Divorce by a Spouse includes: 

• Making false claims and reports to the Department of Family & Child Services to start an investigation and a DFCS report in an attempt to create false evidence
• Attempting to have spouse arrested and manipulate the legal system by staging an altercation then calling police
• Going to police to file a Temporary Protective Order against spouse even when the spouse has not been abusive
• Going to police and attempting to file an arrest warrant against a spouse 

How to respond to legal abuse in divorce by a spouse:

Once these tactics have been employed it is very difficult to turn the case around. In these cases, families are headed for very costly, high-conflict litigious court battles that do not serve either spouse and create long-term wounding that is very difficult to overcome post divorce. 

We recommend that the family move as swiftly through the divorce process as possible, prolonged cases leave the window of opportunity open to devastating legal abuse that can result in permanent arrest records, with unforeseen domino effects such as long-term unemployment issues, financial ruin and more.

More information on this topic in our new book Family Divorce Therapy 101-A Clinician’s Guide to Best Practices for Treating Families Pre/During/Post Divorce (Amazon)

More divorce support, advice and tips in Transitions Divorce® Prep Workbook

Transitions Divorce® Prep Workbook contains information on how to avoid costly pitfalls in divorce cases

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Disclaimer: This is my personal blog. The opinions I express here do not necessarily represent those of my organization, Transitions Resource, LLC. The information I provide is on an as-is basis. I make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this blog and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its use.