Divorce Lawyer Consultation: Questions to ask
When consulting with a divorce attorney for a preliminary assessment, it's beneficial to acquire as much info as possible. Maximizing your time requires that you prepare a list of questions you need answers to before your meeting. If you fail to prepare and forget to inquire about vital information, you might wind up needing to pay the lawyer to address those concerns at a later time. Normally, your concerns will likely associate with financial and child custody issues.
Lawyer Fee Structure
The very first concern you must ask the divorce attorney during the consultation is about her fee structure. Specifically, you want to know whether the lawyer will bill you for each hour she invests in your case, consisting of the time she invests answering your questions, or whether it's a fixed fee. Given that divorce procedures can often take years to complete, you should prepare for the financial implications.
Divorce Procedures
Every state has various treatments you and your lawyer should follow to declare divorce. Although the length of time required to complete a divorce will always depend upon the intricacy of your circumstance, your attorney ought to provide you with an estimate of the timeline. If you work full-time or have other responsibilities that consume a majority of your time, knowledge of necessary divorce treatments and the time dedications they require can help you prepare for what lies ahead.
Spousal support Issues
States have specific guidelines that determine whether a spouse may look for spousal support from the other spouse. In some cases, eligibility connects to the length of your marital relationship, whether you or your spouse stays home to raise kids, and even the inconsistency in earnings in between partners. Therefore, regardless of whether you are click here for info the partner seeking the alimony or have issues about your liability for its payment, raising the concern during the initial assessment with your attorney can provide you with insight into your possible liabilities as you continue through the divorce.
Kid Custody
You need to ask your attorney what your possibilities are of acquiring custody of your children. Since child custody problems sometimes extend divorce procedures, it's finest to know which problems are best to yield and which to challenge.
Dividing Marital Assets
Most state divorce laws supply a simple formula for allocating joint properties between spouses. The formula differs for each state because state residential or commercial property laws will dictate the ownership rights of each partner. Therefore, it's important to ask the divorce legal representative what the legal structure for splitting marital properties remains in your state.
For more information, contact:
Clearwater Law Group
5205 West Clearwater Avenue
Kennewick, WA 99336
(509) 734-8500