In divorce and family law matters, there can often be many substantive issues in play for the parties.  In a divorce, for example, parties have issues like custody, support, and property and debt division to work through to resolve their case.

These can be tough issues to work through.  And, in a lot of levels, all of these issues can be critically important to the parties.

At the same time, to settle a divorce or family law matter, an agreement on all these substantive issues has to be reached for a case to conclude.  This can be tough for lots of parties because everything can seem important to them as it relates to the ability of them to move on with their life.

In saying that, it is important for a party to try to rank their goals from most important to least important.  It’s important to consider what might be most important to their spouse, or the other party, as well.

To resolve a case, a party then often has to give to get.  In other words, the party might think about trying to give on the items less important to them to try to get favorable terms on the items most important to them.

Sometimes, this can be easier said than done.  Sometimes, the parties might have the same goals in virtually the same order, which could make this impossible  But it’s something to at least consider in terms of trying to resolve your case.  In some cases, this might be a potential pathway to a settlement.