It’s 10pm New Year’s Eve. Your Wife has your children for her visitation week, and it has been a stressful year. You’re out with friends and ready to party your cares away. Six beers later, you’re tired. It’s 1am, and you’re ready to curl up with your fat dog in bed. You think about calling a cab, but you just had a huge helping of cheese fries, and you’re thinking you’re fine to drive. Also, you probably shouldn’t spend any more money since your divorce lawyer and soon to be ex-wife are constantly sucking your bank account dry. You think, what the hay, and hit the streets. Not even 5 minutes later you’re being pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence. Sitting in the drunk tank you’re wondering how this could affect your divorce case. Here’s How:
- You now have a record. If you were squeaky clean before the holiday, the other side now has a mug shot complete with a police report of you breaking the law. If there is a custody dispute that means this could get nasty. Let the mudslinging commence.
- Those 1-2 beers you have with dinner now become evidence that you can’t go one day without alcohol. You’re officially an alcoholic (at least according to her and her attorney).
- You have additional legal fees to pay now to defend yourself against a DUI charge. This means less money in your pocket to pay your divorce lawyer, and there’s still money in her pocket to feed hers.
- Your children will hear about it. You are kidding yourself if you think your ex won’t pick up that mug shots magazine at the gas station to show little Timmy that his idol went to jail. Don’t give her ammo to use against you.
- This will tarnish your efforts to negotiate everything. You want to take your kids to Disney World? She’ll say that you can’t be trusted to drive. You want extra time with your children? She’ll ask for supervised visitation because she thinks you’re an alcoholic.
Lawyerly Advice for New Years? Take a cab or get a ride.