As much as you will be losing the person you spent a good chunk of your life with, you don’t have to be dramatic about it. Are you going through a divorce and wondering how you can make it as smooth and less dramatic as possible? There are plenty of ways to go about it.

Some of these ways include:

Seek legal advice

You need to know how to navigate the murky divorce waters, and since this is your first time, it’s wise that you arm yourself with an attorney.

You will need to consult the attorney regularly, which is usually the most expensive part of hiring divorce lawyers. Remember that you will have to pay your attorney every time you see them.

To cut costs, reduce the frequency at which you see your attorney. As a rule of thumb, only see your attorney when necessary.

You also should avoid leaning too much on your attorney, as doing so means you will keep talking to them, and you don’t want this.

Instead of consulting your attorney on every single thing, take time to research divorce law so that when you meet with your attorney, you aren’t just listening to them—you are asking relevant and informed questions.

Try and work your issues out of court.

Besides dragging each other in court being extremely dirty as you tend to air your dirty linens in public, it also tends to be emotionally charged, often preventing you from making the right arguments.

Instead of taking each other to court, try to solve your issues outside the courtroom. This way, you need to schedule a meeting with your attorneys and agree on the different aspects of your divorce.

These include the division of money, assets, and even children.

Be flexible

One of the major reasons divorces tend to be messy is because the respective partners don’t want to budge on what they want.

To avoid a long, convoluted, and messy divorce, you must understand that divorce is a compromise. This means that you shouldn’t have the attitude of trying to win.

You need to understand that you won’t come out of the divorce with the same things you had while you were still married.

The right way to approach it is to discuss it with your partner about the things you feel will be important to you, and don’t be too attached to those that your partner might need.

Be calm during the negotiations.

It’s easy to be ticked off and shout at your ex-partner, especially when you see them asking for things you feel don’t make much sense.

Remember that your ex-partner is still emotional so avoid shouting at them or doing anything that might set them off.

To avoid problems, let your attorney handle the negotiations. If you feel that you are too emotional, it would be better if you can avoid going into the negotiating room altogether.

Don’t involve the children.

Regardless of the age of the children, you should keep them out of your divorce negotiations. The reason for this is that kids increase tension and hostility, which makes the process messy and expensive, as you have to keep your family lawyers Fairfax VA with you for much longer.

The right thing to do is to keep the arrangements for your children separate. In fact, you should only talk to them about the divorce once everything is complete and you are on good talking terms with your ex-partner.

As you are talking to them, be mature about it and promise them that you will take care of them as well as when you would, had you been together with your partner.