Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84GoodLifeFamilyMag.com SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2016 59 goodADVICE you may be emotionally, you should resist the urge to rant on social media or start a word-of-mouth campaign maligning your partner. This is especially true when children are involved. No matter how much you may try to shield them, their sense of family and security will be threatened by the news that their parents are divorcing; so it is important to remember that while you are their support system, they are not yours. You are their source of comfort, something that will be undermined by exposure to your social media confessions and unfiltered accusations. Divorce is life-altering, and it is important to have trusted confidants – particularly a close friend or your attorney – who will listen and support you throughout this rocky time. However, it is certainly not the concern of the neighbor from third grade whom you recently rediscovered on Facebook. Whatever comfort might be gained in the short-term from rallying family and friends to “your side” will eventually erode, and such personal attacks can serve to open the floodgates to reciprocal accusations from your partner. Legal matters are rarely, if ever, best served by being triedinthecourtofpublicopinion,andthatisparticularly true when it comes to family law matters. Divorce ranks at the top of the list of most stressful life events, right up there with death of a loved one, job loss, and serious illness. Although there is no doubt that divorce takes a heavy emotional toll on everybody involved, how you decide to cope with that stress will help determine how quickly things start to get better. Putting your personal pain on display will only prolong the animosity and delay the healing process. When in doubt, take the high road. BRAD LAMORGESE is a partner in the Family Law boutique Orsinger, Nelson, Downing & Anderson, LLP. He regularly represents clients in trials and appeals involving high stakes legal disputes, including matters involving interstate jurisdiction disputes, prenuptial agreement litigation, property divisions, custody, and visitation. www.ondafamilylaw.com Legal matters are rarely, if ever, best served by being tried in the court of public opinion.