>> Hi, I'm Jared Oxendine, a Georgia divorce and family law attorney with offices in Athens and Suwanee. This is a roadmap to happily ever after divorce part six, where we walk through the most important things you need to know before, during, and after a divorce so you can move forward with confidence. The ink on your divorce decree is dry. You think it's over, but then Friday at 5:00 p.m. rolls around and you have to hand your child over to the person you just spent a year in conflict with. This is a moment most people aren't prepared for. The decree isn't the finish line, it's a starting line for your new family structure. This is the long game. There is a hangover after divorce. You're exhausted and you just want to move on, but then your ex is late for a pickup or there's a new significant other in the picture and all that old resentment boils back to the surface. You feel like the divorce didn't change anything. The human struggle here is learning to stop treating it as a marriage and start treating it as a business partnership. You don't have to like your business partner, but for the sake of the company, which in this case is your children, you have to follow the operating agreement. That operating agreement is your parenting plan. If it was written correctly by our team, which it will be, it covers the friction points before they happen. But life changes, jobs move, kids grow up, and sometimes the other side simply refuses to follow the order. This is where we talk about modification and contempt. If the decree is no longer serving the best interest of your child, then the law actually allows us to go back and fix that. And if your ex is violating the order, we use the court to enforce it. You have a shield even after the divorce is final. You cannot control your ex-spouse, you can only control your reaction and the legal boundaries you set. The new life isn't about them finally changing, it's about you finally being protected by a document that works even when they don't. Your peace of mind is now a contractual right. A business-like approach works for most, but for some, the business was built on a foundation of control, fear, and toxicity. If your ex isn't interested in being fair, you need more than a plan. You need a bunker. In our next episode, we're talking about abusive and toxic dynamics. I'm J. Oxendine, and we're here to protect you.