Divorce is hard, but divorcing a narcissist can feel like a nightmare. A narcissist is someone with a personality disorder who feels superior and lacks empathy for others. If your spouse shows signs of a narcissistic personality, you must prepare for a contentious battle ahead. Narcissists don’t like to lose, and if your spouse is one, they could lie and manipulate others to try to leave you with nothing in your divorce. However, you can mitigate their toxic efforts by taking certain measures.
Is your spouse a narcissist?
A person with a Narcissistic Personality disorder can cause problems in many areas of life, even more so in divorce. You can tell if your spouse has this disorder by being on the lookout for its most common signs. Some of them include:
- They feel unhappy when there are not given special favors
- They insist on having the best of everything
- They lack empathy for others
- They exaggerate achievements and talents
- They expect to be recognized as superior
Because of the nature of their disorder, a narcissist can become your worst enemy in a legal battle.
How a narcissist can affect a divorce
If your spouse is narcissistic, they may do everything possible to win as much property and rights in your divorce. To achieve their goal, they could even go to the extent of lying to their attorney and the judges. Remember, narcissists tend to manipulate people, and you must know that your spouse can use this as a weapon in divorce proceedings.
However, you can stop them on their tracks by preparing a plan against their strategies in advance. You must talk to a lawyer as soon as possible and explain to them the situation. The sooner you do this, the more time the lawyer will have to gather witnesses in your favor and act as an intermediary between you and your soon-to-be-ex. By not talking directly with your spouse during the process, they won’t be able to incriminate you for something you could have said.
Fighting back
A narcissist can make divorce even harder. They will try to fight and leave you with nothing, but you can stop this from happening by building a strong defense against their accusations. They may think they have control of the situation, but it is up to you to prove them wrong.