The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has estimated that around 328,000 drowsy driving accidents happen every year. The disparity may lie in the fact that the NHTSA includes only police-reported crashes in its figures while the AAA estimate includes other data as well. As far as economic damages, the NHTSA estimates that these fatality and injury crashes cost the country around $109 billion each year, not accounting for damages to property.

Driving drowsy is similar in some ways to operating a vehicle while intoxicated by alcohol. It causes worsened reaction times and triples the risk of a car accident occurring. Getting behind the wheel after more than 20 hours without sleep is equivalent to driving with a BAC of .08%, the legal limit in the US. Fatigued driving can cause drivers to micro-sleep, or fall asleep for short periods. During a five-second micro-sleep, a driver can travel the distance of a football field at highway speeds.

When drowsy or fatigued driving leads to car accidents in Connecticut, injured parties might have claims for damages that including medical expenses, pain and suffering, and lost wages. An attorney who practices personal injury law may help in such cases by deposing experts, interviewing witnesses, gathering and organizing medical records, or otherwise developing a case for trial. An attorney might be able to negotiate an out-of-court settlement for money damages on behalf of the client.

A study by Lytx found that those who eat or drink while driving are 3.6 times more likely to be an accident compared to those who don’t. Individuals who buy food on their way home from work or school are encouraged to eat it when they get home. Those who feel the need to eat or consume a soft drink are encouraged to do so in a parking lot or while otherwise pulled over.

In addition to making the road safer for all involved, eating at home or while in a parking lot may make it easier to enjoy what is being consumed. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, hamburgers, tacos and doughnuts are among the most popular items consumed in vehicles. Coffee, soup and soda are among the most popular beverages consumed in vehicles according to the NHTSA.

Individuals who are hurt in auto accidents caused by distracted drivers may be entitled to compensation. An attorney may use driver statements or other evidence to show that a person was eating or otherwise distracted when he or she caused an accident. Compensation to pay for medical bills or lost future earnings might be obtained in a settlement or from a jury after a trial.

If you cannot operate the business together after your divorce and neither you nor your spouse is able to buy the other out, you may be faced with the need to sell the business. Splitting the proceeds will make it simpler to divide your assets, but it can also be a difficult option during an already taxing time.

Business sales take time.

No matter the size of your business, it will take time to prepare it for sale and to find a buyer. The majority of business sales take 4 to 6 months, and during that time you will also be negotiating your divorce. Discuss a timeline for the sale of your business so that it can be accounted for in asset division and so that you know how much time you can wait for a good offer.

You will also need to discuss how you want to handle your day-to-day business dealings while you are finalizing the sale. Will you continue operations as usual? Will you make a change with the sale in mind?

Setting an appropriate price can be a challenge.

As Forbes notes, it is important that you and your spouse to discuss the minimum price you would be willing to accept. The timeline of your sale may require you and your spouse to accept a lower offer, and discussing your minimum will help you minimize conflict about whether or not to accept a buyer’s offer.

Ultimately, the decision to sell your business during a divorce needs to be a strategic one. You will need to work with trusted advisers like your attorney and financial adviser in order to explore the challenges you face and make an informed decision. However, it is possible for the sale of your business to ease the challenges of asset division and to help you start your single life with a stronger foundation.

But when you’re going through a divorce, it’s crucial that you’re careful. Whatever you post online during the divorce proceedings can – and, most likely, will – be used against you.

Protect yourself from having your social media posts brought up in court by taking these preventive measures:

• Don’t post about your spouse. Talking badly about your spouse publicly is an easy way to damage your image to a judge. As much as you used social media to vent about your relationship problems in the past, now is the time to keep your feelings about your spouse to yourself. Instead of making a post, discuss your problems with a trusted friend or relative in person.
• Don’t post about extravagant expenses. The division of assets is one of the most complicated parts of divorce, and making posts of your spending habits can draw into question whether you deserve as much of the assets as you want. Plus, if you recently bought a new car or home, you should keep these purchases off social media to not reveal any hidden assets.
• Don’t post about the divorce. Your divorce is a private process. No matter how upset the experience makes you, refrain from airing details about the divorce online.
• Don’t share your location. Most social media platforms let you to tag a location. Posts that show you regularly visit bars or fancy restaurants when you should be watching the kids can be evidence against you during custody agreements.
• Don’t remove old posts. Honesty is the best policy during a divorce, and deleting past posts about your spouse or relationship can make it seem like you have something to hide.

Divorce can be challenging enough without your own words coming back to hurt you during the process. Cutting social media out of your life fully may be impossible, so try your best to remember these tips whenever you open Facebook to make a post. With precaution, you can prevent your spouse from using your social media against you.

The importance of uncovering hidden assets

The National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) estimates that 41% of spouses that combine finances have been deceptive about money. During your divorce, this can mean that you will not get your fair share of property when it comes to property division. Not only can hidden assets impact the amount of money and property that you receive as a part of your divorce agreement, these hidden assets can also impact how much you might receive in spousal support.

Did your spouse have more information on your finances?

If your spouse was the one paying bills, balancing your finances, keeping up your retirement savings or making major purchases for the two of you, it is easier for them to hide assets. Getting a copy of their financial records and examining them closely is an important step to take if you believe that they may have been deceptive.

These records could uncover that your spouse has been stashing money from paychecks, small business income and even your joint accounts in a separate account. They could also show that your spouse has been hiding money in other ways—making fake payments or loans, claiming that property was lost when it wasn’t and other fraudulent behavior.

Discovering what has been hidden

If you suspect that your spouse has been hiding something, a skilled attorney can be one of your most important allies. Your attorney can formally request financial records and investigate them fully, uncovering where your spouse may have hidden money, property and other assets. According to Catherine Schnaubelt in Forbes, tax returns could be particularly useful in revealing inconsistencies in your spouse’s finances.

Your lawyer can also formally question your spouse in order to uncover the truth. If your spouse lies about hidden assets while under oath, they could face even more legal trouble down the road.

While financial deception can make your divorce even more stressful, it is possible to uncover what your spouse has hidden and ensure that you receive your fair share in your divorce.

After thinking about it for a bit, you might realize that divorce is the only option you can live with. There are several things that you need to do. One of the most important is to remember that you’re human and will have a variety of emotions to work through. This isn’t going to be easy, but it is the only way that you’ll be able to truly move forward.

You also need to think about your health. There is a chance that your ex contracted a sexually transmitted condition. You need to be tested for these diseases so that you can find out if you have anything to worry about. Your ex should also be tested, but there might not be a way you can force them to do this.

Throughout the divorce, your ex might try to make things as easy for themselves as possible. You have to do what you can to protect yourself as you work through the property division and child custody aspects of the split. By standing up for yourself, you might be able to walk away with a settlement that puts you in the best position possible for your new life.

Even though you’re probably in a hurry to end the marriage, you shouldn’t try to rush through the negotiations. Take the time to discuss the marital home with your attorney, financial planner and other professionals who might have some input about what might help you.

You will have to find an experienced real estate professional to help you deal with the home. If you are selling, this person will handle those arrangements. If one spouse is buying the other out, the realtor can determine the current market value of the home and what trends are expected that affect it.

When a home is being sold as part of the divorce, you and your ex will have to determine what selling price is suitable. Neither person should make a decision about an offer without consulting with the other person. This doesn’t have to be direct communication. Instead, each person can report independently whether an offer is suitable or not.

There are tax implications that you also have to consider. Your tax professional can help you to determine how each option regarding the home might impact you.

Once you know all you can about the options, you can then make an informed decision about how to handle the home. This is only one facet of the divorce, so be sure to think about all the others, too.

We know that you might have some questions about what’s possible in your case. We can help you evaluate the options so that you can make decisions based on the facts. If you are going through mediation, you might find that some of the compromises aren’t what you expected. Going into the process with an open mind and being willing to compromise can benefit you greatly.

Before you go into a session to move the divorce forward, you need to think about what points you are willing to bend on and which ones you are going to stand firm on. This makes it possible to focus on what you feel is important. Just remember that you might also have to work out an agreement on those matters. We are ready to help you evaluate various options during this process.

One thing that you do need to prepare for is that you can’t focus on what you want during the child custody mediation. Instead, you have to think about what’s best for your children. Their needs are what the court is going to look at. We can work with you to discuss how various options might work and how they may be perceived by the court.

They might think that they are going to have to pick sides in the divorce. They don’t understand that they can still love both parents and that they will still receive love from both. It might help if you and your ex can come together to talk to them about the divorce. That way, you are showing them that you are still a parenting team — even though you aren’t still married.

You shouldn’t ever ask the children to serve as a messenger between their parents. Having to relay messages can lead to more stress because it might mean the child is privy to information they don’t need to know. They might also be concerned about misstating the message. Instead, communicate directly with your ex through verbal or written means.

Some children think they are the cause of their parents’ divorce. You and your ex must make it abundantly clear that you aren’t blaming the children for the split. They don’t need to know the dirty details of what happened between you, but you can let them know that it was an adult decision.

As you are working through the creation of the parenting plan, make sure that you consider the children’s needs. Having one that is set up for them to thrive can help them as they are learning to live with the new circumstances.

If you’re suspicious that your spouse is unhappy, watch for these signals that your spouse is about to stray. If you can spot them early enough, you may have an opportunity to fix the issues so infidelity won’t occur. If an affair has already started, ending that relationship and addressing these problems might save the marriage.

• Bypassing physical affection: Part of marriage is intimacy. There is a chance that people in an unaffectionate marriage might turn to others for the attention they are seeking.
• Thinking you are always right: Marriage requires compromise. When one person feels that they are always right, there is little chance to compromise. This might push the other person away.
• Criticizing in public: Spouses shouldn’t ever criticize each other in public. Criticism in front of others is a significant sign of disrespect, and it could cause the marriage to end.
• Keeping secrets: Communication in a marriage should be open. When there are secrets, it means that communication and trust are lacking. This can lead to the union failing.

If you are heading for divorce because of an affair, make sure you protect your interests. Besides focusing on the property division, financial obligations and child custody, you might need to seek mental health counseling to help you work through the emotions you feel as a result of the situation.