If your partner is abusing you, don't just get a quiet divorce without bringing up the issue of domestic violence. There are several ways in which bringing up the issue can help with your divorce even if you don't use it as your grounds for divorce. Here are three areas in which proof of domestic violence can help you with the divorce:
Child Custody
Any form of domestic violence will affect child custody deliberations, but the effect is particularly great if the violence occurs in front of the kids or is directed at the kids. Children are affected by violence, and the courts greatest concern is the child's welfare. Therefore, the court will put measures in place to protect the child from violence.
This may include, among other measures, the abusive parent getting limited access to the child or no access at all. You may also use your concerns for the kid's welfare as a basis for petitioning the court for supervised visitations.
Alimony
Depending on your state, domestic violence can affect alimony in two main ways. First, the court may increase your alimony award if you can prove that it affected your marital assets negatively. This might be the case, for example if your spouse did not want you to work. This is also possible if the beatings from your spouse affected your earning capacity, for example, if you were too ill to go to work on several occasions.
The second way in which domestic violence may affect alimony is if you are the victim and the calculations reveal that you are supposed to pay alimony to your spouse (the aggressor). Some courts have decided that such spouses should not get alimony (or the amount may be reduced), so you may be off the hook for the alimony payments.
Division of Assets
Lastly, your partner's violent conduct may also affect the division of your marital assets. This is not a given since some courts don't factor in domestic violence during asset division, but there is no harm in trying since some courts do take it into consideration.
Increase your chances of getting the court to consider domestic violence as a factor in asset division by proving that it wasn't just a onetime occurrence; courts give more weight to ongoing cases of abuse. If you do succeed, your share of marital assets is likely to be greater than it would have been without the issue of domestic violence.
Therefore, if you are going through a divorce and you have suffered domestic violence, it pays to document your struggles. Gather the proof and give them to your divorce law attorney so that they can use them for your divorce.
