In many Divorces the parties negotiate in good faith and reach a fair agreement. However, divorce can be a long process in which the husband and wife are playing a high stakes game of poker to get leverage. Rhode Island Divorce can be all about leverage. There are many types of leverage:
- Financial,
- Information,
- Emotional and
- Legal

Divorce is all about who has the “L” word and who does not have leverage. Information is the most important kind of leverage. Information about the other spouses’s financial affairs, history or wrongdoing may constitutes leverage. Many people say that divorce is a form of legalized extortion.
Financial leverage and Rhode Island divorce
An example of financial leverage used by some divorce litigants is when one spouse has more resources and tries to drag out the divorce so that the other spouse does not have the funds to continue fighting.
The use of a financial advantage can lead to an unjust result when one spouse has to compromise their rights in the divorce because they can no longer afford to fight. Since a vast majority of Rhode Island divorce cases do not actually go to a contested trial, the RI divorce process can be a long drawn out battle for leverage. And then there is the unseemly, unfair and emotionally damaging side of divorce, using your children as leverage. Parents should never use their children as pawns to prevail in their divorce battle.”Withholding visitation from the other parent is one of these bad decisions that in some circumstances can lead to severe consequences. If there is a court order in place outlining visitation and custody and you violate it, you could face contempt of court. It might even have an impact on the agreement that is currently in place.” https://www.sterlinglawyers.com/wisconsin/dirty-divorce-tricks/children-leverage/
Do not leave money on the table
The biggest mistake that a party can make in a divorce is only considering the leverage that your spouse has against you. In many cases parties leave money on the table because they do not realize that they have a lot more bargaining power then they think they do. That is the reason why parties should always request more then they really want so that the parties can compromise and the person can get what they are looking for.