My friend IRL needed a tougher divorce lawyer also......she ended up financially in a bad place & has ended up having to sell her house & move into an apartment after her boys graduated from college & their support ended while he's living in style with all the money that she didn't get that was really due to her. They did a stupid negotiation of him paying for her to go to college (at her age which was already in her 50's) to get a career. She was never good at school in the first place & had no interest in college before she got married to him. She had some severe medical issues (several hip replacement operations & a replacement of the replacement & another surgery on the replacement's replacement because of a bone spur).....well, she never went back to school, so all that money that he was supposed to owe her for the schooling, he never had to pay. Don't get caught into those kind of negotiations either. If they try something like that, get the money yourself & pay for finishing your education yourself by the money you have from the divorce.....make sure you have a good lawyer that is looking out for YOU.....because the husband's lawyer can try to make anything sound good at the time & especially if you are a peaceful person who doesn't like conflict.

I've always been a fighter for myself & it's really hard to see people let people walk all over them in the name of peace & then look back with regret in the long run. I have always fought for what was right......from animal's rights to my own & get frustrated when I end up not being able to go in for the fight when I see a serious wrong staring me in my face but not knowing exactly how to fight to make something right.

You are always after the right thing being done.....the problem is that sometimes it really does take a fight whether we like to fight or not in order to make the right thing happen. That is the true test to our desire for our rights is if we are willing to stand up for them in spite of what we are up against.....I think that is what you really want to show as an example for your daughters so they will know that it's ok to do for themselves in their future.....as that is where your direction in training them has been going over the years.....it's always good when our actions reflect our words otherwise, it leaves for a lot of confusion in the eyes of our children. It's something they see whether we realize it or not.

Glad to hear that you are being WISE about having your own lawyer....now for the courage to stand strong through all the really tough things that might come up.