Special situations
When the standard playbook doesn’t fit: high-conflict and narcissistic exes, domestic violence, military service, international and immigration considerations, LGBTQ+ specifics, and religious factors.
Start here
Read these in order.
A curated path through special situations, picked so the next article builds on the last.
- High-conflict divorces: when the standard playbook failsWhat makes a divorce structurally high-conflict, what you can and can’t change, and the legal, communication, and documentation moves that work.5-minute read
- Divorcing a narcissist: the tactical playbookThe behavioral pattern, what doesn’t work, and the documentation, communication, and legal moves that actually hold up against a high-control ex.5-minute read
- Divorce when there’s a history of domestic violenceSafety planning, protective orders, address confidentiality, and why the standard divorce playbook can be dangerous when there’s a history of abuse.6-minute read
- Military divorce: SCRA, USFSPA, and the federal-law overlayActive-duty stays, military-retirement division, the 10/10 and 20/20/20 rules, TRICARE eligibility, and the jurisdictional quirks of a military divorce.5-minute read
- LGBTQ+ divorce: the specifics that survived ObergefellPost-Obergefell parity, the parentage gaps for non-bio parents, second-parent adoption as protection, and the pre-marriage-equality timing question.5-minute read
- Religious divorce: the parallel track to the civil oneCatholic annulment, the Jewish get, Islamic talaq — how religious divorce processes interact with civil divorce, and what civil courts will and won’t enforce.5-minute read
- Gray divorce: divorce after 50Why the retirement runway, Social Security strategy, Medicare bridge, and pension survivor election make divorce after 50 a different financial problem.5-minute read
- International divorce: when borders complicate the caseJurisdiction across countries, the Hague Convention on child abduction, recognition of foreign divorces, and discovery of assets held abroad.5-minute read
The full library
Everything else in special situations.
Special situations
Divorcing a spouse with active addiction
How addiction shapes custody, finances, and safety in a divorce — what courts can address with evidence, and what protects you and the kids.
5-minute read
Special situations
Divorcing when you have a special-needs child
Why standard parenting plans don’t fit, child support that may not end at 18, Special Needs Trusts, IEP coordination, and the long-arc planning.
5-minute read