Written Exclusively for It's Over Easy by Abby Drexler
Going through a divorce is typically very challenging and stressful. One part of a divorce that can be hard to deal with is having to move.
In a lot of cases, a recent divorcee may choose to relocate to a new city entirely. While relocating after a divorce is always a challenge, the current pandemic has made this even more difficult.
Fortunately, there are a variety of tips that can be followed to help someone relocate during the pandemic.
Don't Delay Divorce Due to Pandemic
One tip to follow when you are looking to relocate after a divorce is to keep your divorce moving forward. While many different offices and services are closed during a pandemic, it is still possible to keep a divorce moving forward. Today, most lawyers are savvy enough to have figured out how to do video conferences, etc., which enables them to represent parties in a divorce remotely, and if you're using an online divorce site to save money on your divorce, you can get divorced from anywhere. In many cases with an online divorce, you never even have to go to court because you can use the site to file your divorce papers for you and your spouse. This could require having more virtual conversations with all people and using online tools. While the pandemic is going to set back many different parts of your life, you can continue your divorce so you can keep moving forward as best as possible.
Stay in Compliance with Agreements
If you are getting divorced and have children, relocating can be more challenging. To ensure that you are able to relocate to where you want, you need to ensure that the relocation is approved in the divorce and custody agreements. Prior to moving anywhere, you need to make sure that you have all necessary approvals and are able to go to the destination that you want. If you do not follow this step, you could face a variety of repercussions.
Find New Place to Live Virtually
One of the issues with moving into a new home during a pandemic is that you may not be able to see it as easily. Due to various social distancing guidelines, you may not be able to see the apartment or other property that you want to move into. However, there are still ways that you can get a sense of the home that you are moving into. A landlord or property seller should be able to send you pictures, a virtual tour and floor plans. This will help to make the process of seeing a prospective home more efficient.
Use Moving Service with Safe Practices
If you are going to be moving cities, you likely will need some professional movers to help with your move. When you do hire movers, it will mean that you will have several people moving all of your personal items and walking through your homes. While this will always pose some level of risk, it can be minimized if the moving company takes the necessary precautions. You should look for a moving company that is taking the pandemic seriously and has practices that will help to reduce this risk. This should include making sure movers do not have symptoms, that they wear masks and gloves and that the truck is properly disinfected.
Do Work Yourself
While it can be helpful to hire a professional moving service to help with the move, you can also make the process safer if you do some work on your own. Following a divorce, you may not have a lot of time. However, the more work that you can do on your own, the more you can reduce the risk of infection and you can save some money. Some tasks that you can do on your own can include boxing all of your personal items, packing away clothes and taking apart furniture. Then, once you have arrived in your new home, you can once again do much of the unpacking on your own. All of this will reduce the amount of contact others have with your personal items, which will make the process safer.
Sanitize the New Home
When you are going to move into a new home, it is important that you keep it as well sanitized as possible. If you are going to move into a new home, you are naturally going to be concerned that the home is not clean and poses an infection risk. To ensure that your home is clean and safe, you should have it professionally cleaned before you move in. You may also want to wait a couple of days after the cleaning before moving in, which will greatly help to reduce the risk of infection.
When you are looking to relocate following a divorce, the pandemic can make the situation much harder. While the pandemic will always make moving more difficult, there are still ways to make the process go as well as possible. By following these tips, your relocation during the pandemic can go smoothly so you can move on with the rest of your life.
About the Author
Abby Drexler is a contributing writer and media specialist on behalf of North American Van Lines.
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