Jul 26, 2019 08:13 PM EDT By Hannah Smith, UniversityHerald Reporter

Divorce is a difficult time in anyone's life, and matters only get worse when one spouse starts playing games. Brutal tactics can be employed that make divorce more difficult for one spouse, and some of these tactics will end up with an unfair share of assets being divided. The tactics that lawyers advise their clients to be aware of are:

Delaying the Divorce

You want the divorce to go as quickly as possible, but your spouse has other ideas entirely. Perhaps he or she agrees to get the divorce over quickly. A quick divorce saves time and money, but something happens in the middle of the divorce proceeding.

A spouse doesn't agree on terms, and then the terms are updated to reflect a new agreement, but then the spouse doesn't agree again.

"Some spouses will do anything to hurt the other party in a divorce, gaming the system to retaliate and create stress for the other spouse," explains the Law Offices of Scott D. Rogoff, P.C. 

Delaying tactics to be cautious of are:

• Continually changing the details of the settlement

• Arguments over items of the divorce that are trivial

• Adding in new conditions after the other party has just agreed to the person's terms

Undue stress, anxiety and worry will occur due to delays. It's possible that the other party will wait until the last minute to comply with court orders. If this happens, it will waste time and money for both parties involved.

Emptying of Bank Accounts or Cancelling Credit Cards

A shared account is accessible by both parties, and one tactic that vindictive spouses use is to empty out all shared bank accounts. This is not a step to take lightly, and the emptying of the account means one spouse is left with fewer assets.

Lawyers also find that some spouses are spiteful, and when they go to use their credit card to pay for gas, they find out that the card was cancelled.

If the card is cancelled by the spouse, this is one additional financial burden that the divorce presents. Attorneys should inform the judge of these attempts by requesting a temporary hearing.

Other times, the person will choose to max out credit cards.

Cancelling the Utilities in the Home

Attacks and counterattacks in a divorce occur when one spouse starts being sneaky and purposely attempting to harm the other spouse. One example of this is cancelling a person's utilities without warning.

A spouse may choose to cancel the person's electric, water, cable, cell phone or other utility without notifying them.

Petitioning for Custody Even After Joint Custody is the Plan

Spouses sit down, hash out all of the divorce details and then decide that joint custody is in the best interest of the child. But then the other spouse will petition the court for primary custody to put fear into their ex.

The goal of this petition is often not to take on primary custody.

Instead, this is a tactic that a lot of exes use in an attempt to force their spouse to concede on other issues. Perhaps the house is going to the wife, so the husband files for primary custody to try and force the wife to concede and sign the house over to him.

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