Rabbit Rule #9: Don’t Crow until the End

This is a spin-off of the previous rule. Be sure you have actually reached the end before letting out a hoot of derision. Remember: Your spouse can still appeal or move for the court to set aside the judgment up to thirty days after rendition of the judgment. And judgment is not always rendered on the day you actually appear in court.

Also, if you have yet to get all of your property from your spouse or if you own property in common with your spouse, you had better gag back your jeers a little longer. And if you have children, face the fact that you are going to need the best possible relationship with your ex-spouse until your children are grown.

Although these are all of the rules handed down by Br’er Rabbit, there is more to bargaining than this. So in honor of the great negotiator, I’ll continue to call these additions “Rabbit Rules.”

Robin M. Green, Divorce: When It’s the Only Answer (The Ordinary Mortals Guide, Inc., 2005), Chapter 13, p. 198.