An Experienced Miami Divorce Lawyer Shares Tips on Divorcing a Narcissist

Sometimes adversarial behavior during a divorce can be driven by narcissistic traits in your spouse’s personality. A narcissistic spouse’s manipulative and self-serving behavior can complicate and delay various facets of your divorce proceedings and threatens to affect your stress levels and quality of life even after your divorce has been finalized.

The Family Matters Law Firm can help you free yourself from the fight a narcissistic spouse tends to initiate. Once you identify whether your spouse shows narcissistic traits, you can prepare strategically and psychologically for any potential difficulties as you proceed through your divorce.

Did You Marry a Narcissist?

The classic narcissist uses charm to establish superficial relationships to exploit or manipulate other people while being inconsiderate or neglectful towards others. While you may have sought to work together toward common goals in your marriage, perhaps your efforts have been sabotaged by your spouse’s overriding psychological need to reinforce an exaggerated and unrealistic self-image.

While narcissistic behaviors may be adaptive or maladaptive in various contexts for the narcissist, they often find expression during a divorce. A narcissist will magnify and escalate conflicts that can make your case unnecessarily challenging for you and your family.

Learn To Recognize Narcissistic Traits and Behaviors

If you are divorcing a narcissistic spouse, their tendencies will likely impact various facets of your life and your divorce case. Some personality traits and behaviors that may be indicative of some level of narcissism can include:

• grandiosity or inflated sense of self-importance
• manipulative behavior
• needing admiration
• lacking empathy
• arrogance
• neglect of others’ concerns
• easily emotionally hurt
• exaggeration of accomplishments
• fantastic goals
• overreaction to perceived threats or criticism
• inability to accept criticism or responsibility
• treating others as below them
• hypercompetitiveness
• paranoid shaming or labeling of detractors as envious
• willingness or tendency to misrepresent the truth

What To Expect From a Narcissist During Your Divorce

A narcissistic spouse will often be severely reluctant to lose you in any part of the divorce. They may resort to lies, manipulation, and swaying of others to make them look better relative to you. This compulsive behavior may at times be unexpected and appear irrational. The narcissist’s need to win by any means may display sadism or vengefulness and can lead to unnecessary complications and delays that may cause added expenses and stress for you in the long term.

Psychological Preparation for Your Spouse’s Behavior and Visualizing Your Future

If you are divorcing a narcissist, prepare by developing a mentality for how you will recognize and respond to their abusive behavior. This applies on the personal relationship level and in your divorce case strategies. Understand that your spouse’s manipulative patterns and conflict escalation plays reflect their personality or condition, not necessarily you or your efforts.

Psychologically prepare by learning to identify these behaviors and refusing to feel personally affected by them. While your spouse may attempt to hurt your morale or distort perceptions, learn to shrug them off emotionally as a narcissist's expected behaviors. Your emotional engagement only empowers and encourages them. Do not allow them to successfully distract you from pursuing a fair settlement and a positive vision for your future.

Strategies to Resist and Reveal Your Spouse’s Narcissism During Your Divorce

Although Florida is a no-fault divorce state, your spouse’s behaviors during the troubled marriage or their twisted account may reveal their narcissism. Stay true to the facts and have faith in pursuing a positive resolution to your divorce case while allowing your spouse to show their nastiness toward you. One effective strategy is to collect witnesses to testify to your spouse’s manipulative behavior. If they overplay their hand, you have an opportunity to highlight the nature of their actions.

Take Steps To Prevent Your Divorce From Taking Over Your Life

You may not be completely rid of your narcissistic spouse after your divorce, especially if you have children. However, you can prepare by learning to recognize and anticipate their behaviors while limiting their emotional influence on you. In Miami, you don’t need to search for “divorce lawyers near me” if you consider divorcing a narcissist. We help people to divorce narcissistic spouses every day.

The Family Matters Law Firm has over 25 years of experience serving families in Miami. We strive to assist our clients with all aspects of the divorce and separation processes, including conflict resolution, therapist referrals, and finance management referrals. We will help you divorce yourself from the fight and find peace of mind as you make a fresh start.

Call us today at The Family Matters Law Firm at (305) 701-2901 or contact us online to schedule a strategy session for legal advice with a legal separation attorney in Miami, FL.

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The information in this blog post (“post”) is provided for general informational purposes only and may not reflect the current law in your jurisdiction. No information in this post should be construed as legal advice from the individual author or the law firm, nor is it intended to be a substitute for legal counsel on any subject matter. No reader of this post should act or refrain from acting based on any information included in or accessible through this post without seeking the appropriate legal or other professional advice on the particular facts and circumstances at issue from a lawyer licensed in the recipient’s state, country, or other appropriate licensing jurisdiction.

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Suite 2200, Miami, FL 33131
(305) 701-2901
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