How you can help a friend get through their divorce

How Can You Help a Friend Get Through a Divorce?

Tips for Helping a Friend Get Through a Divorce

If you have a friend getting divorced you can be certain they are feeling a whole spectrum of emotions – pain, anger, guilt, sorrow, frustration, helplessness, and possibly even shame. Getting through a divorce can be a very confusing and painful process.  And having a good friend that can support you throughout the process and listen without judgment is key to successfully navigating this challenging time.

While every divorce is different, the process can be stressful and overwhelming, even in the most amicable of divorces. Most people have a lot of questions about divorce, and while friends are a good source of support, the best person to answer these questions is a divorce attorney.  Assist your friend with compiling a list of questions they might ask an attorney.  Offer to go with them to their consultation.  And help them to identify the key concerns they might have and a plan for raising those concerns with the attorney.

If you have a friend that needs advice from an Orange County Divorce attorney,  Buncher Family Law is a great place to start. Their goal is to educate their clients on the process of divorce, identify the clients main goals and put together a strategy with the client to reach those goals. It all starts with a Clear Legal Strategy Meeting with an attorney to devise a game plan.  Our hope is  to create an easier transition for our clients from their current place to their new beginnings.

How Can You Help

Seeing someone that you care about going through a divorce can often make you feel helpless and frustrated. While helping them to find a divorce attorney is one thing you can do, there are many ways of showing support to help a friend get through a divorce.

Do more listening and less talking. Your friend does not need your advice as much as they need to know that they’re not alone and that someone cares about them and what they’re going through. If your friend has to move as a result of the divorce, helping them pack can prove to be a much-needed distraction and will provide a sense of comfort.  Reassure your friend that this is a chance for a fresh start and a time for recreating their future.

Cooking can be a real chore in the best of times but having to do it while going through a divorce can be very difficult. Cooking for one is a reminder of what they’ve lost. Consider preparing  a meal or even get takeout for your friend because food, believe it or not, can go a long way to say that you care about them during this difficult period.

Ask your friend what he or she needs. Maybe it’s taking the kids for the evening and letting them stay over so your friend can have some much-needed alone time. Maybe it’s about the two of you going out for dinner, a night out, or getting together for a sleepover or even a long walk.

Some Things to Avoid

If you want to be supportive of a friend who is getting a divorce, avoid badmouthing their ex, pressing them for details about the cause of their divorce, and don’t give them advice about dating after divorce. Just be there for the long-term to help your friend get on with their new life.  What is needed most is comfort, reassurance, support and laughter. Let the attorney do their job and while you focus on just being there to assist where needed.

At Buncher Family Law, our goal is similar – to guide and support our clients to make it easier for them to transition to new beginnings.  Our team is here to answer the many questions one may have about all aspects of divorce law, including the qualifications for a quick divorce process, how spousal and child support are determined, the differences between working with an attorney vs. a mediator and much more.  Divorce can be a very arduous and complex process.  Our goal is to walk side by side with our clients each step of the way.

Posted in California Divorce Lawyer, Divorce Tips.