The Unintended Consequences of a Divorce on Your Career
Divorce can upend your life. It can change friendships and family relationships in ways you never expected, and it can change the way you feel about yourself. It can change the relationship your chidren have with you and your former spouse, and it can make things a lot harder financially. Divorce can ripple through every aspect of your life.
Despite knowing that, you may still be surprised at some of the things divorce changes in your life. In particular, you may not realize how much a divorce can affect your career, and no amount of warning from your divorce lawyer around Arizona or others may prepare you.
Here are a few of the unintended consequences a divorce can have on your career:
Work May Not Seem Like Your Priority
Divorce will take up a lot of your time. You will need to take calls from your divorce attorney, attend meetings with your spouse and yoru divorce lawyer, meet with your accountant and financial advisor, go to offices to get official documents for court, and much more. You may even have to spend some time in court.
Most of these things will take place during working hours, which means you will have to take days off work, leave early, come in late, and take personal calls in the office. Even if you take vacation days and other personal time off to cover it, your boss may become annoyed as it seems like your prioirities are shifting away from work. Your working relationships may suffer, and your reputation may diminish. You could be passed over for promotions, receive poor performance reviews that cost you raises, or even receive disciplinary action.
Your Hours May be Limited because of Child Care
If you have children, divorce will automatically turn you into a single parent. Even if you are sharing custody of your children, you can no longer count on your spouse the way you did previously, expecting them to pick up kids or take them to appointments on the spur of the moment as needed. You are going to have fewer options, which means that you’ll be dealing with a lot of these responsibilities yourself.
You may have to start coming into work later so that you can get the kids to school or child care, or you may have to leave earlier to pick them up on time. You may have to take time off in the middle of the day to take them to doctor or dentist appointments, to go to school conferences, or to attend school events. You may have to take off more frequently if your kids are sick, have head lice, or have some other problem. You may start losing a lot more time at work, which means you won’t be as effective, you won’t be as competitive for promotions, and you may even be annoying your boss and co-workers.
You May Have to Work Longer
In one way, divorce can actually benefit your career. Because you will be on one income unexpectedly, you may struggle to pay for your basic expenses, so you may need to put in longer hours at work. Or you may not have the funds you need to pay for your extensive legal fees, so you need to work more.
Working these longer hours may make you seem more committed to the job and may make you more competitive for advancement. Just make sure you are making the most of that time and not just clocking hours.
You May Struggle to Find Work
You may not have worked while you were married, either because your spouse may enough to support you both or because you wanted to be home with your children. Now that you are getting a divorce, you may find yourself looking for a job without much job experience to help you get it.
Expect to spend a little more time looking for a job after your divorce if you’ve been out of the job market for any amount of time. You should try to get additional training to freshen up your resume and show prospective employers that you are committed to staying competitive in your field.
Divorce can have unexpected consequences. Arming yourself with as much knowledge as possible can help you weather these changes a little more easily, as can surrounding yourself with a good support network of family and friends. Hire a reputable family law lawyer to guide you through the process and ensure that you have as much information as possible to make the right choices and to manage the changes more easily.
My AZ Lawyers can help if you are separating or divorcing. Our divorce attorneys serve clients in the Mesa, Glenda, Tucson, and Phoenix areas. We can help you draw up a separation agreement, establish child custody or support, and more. We can help you through the entire divorce process, no matter how simple or complex. Contact us today to start talking with an experienced divorce attorney about your case.
Mesa Location:
1731 West Baseline Rd., Suite #100
Mesa, AZ 85202
Office: (480) 448-9800
Glendale Location:
20325 N 51st Avenue Suite #134, Building 5
Glendale, AZ 85308
Office: (602) 509-0955
Tucson Location:
2 East Congress St., Suite #900-6A
Tucson, AZ 85701
Office: (520) 441-1450
Avondale Location:
12725 W. Indian School Rd., Ste E, #101
Avondale, AZ 85392
