Divorce and family law attorneys have a reputation for being expensive. Many potential clients ask us to give them a “ball park” estimate as to how much their case and attorney's fees will cost. This is nearly impossible for any attorney to predict because there are so many moving parts involved in each case, which can significantly impact the final cost. There are ways, however, for potential clients to try and manage their case costs and attorney’s fees so that they are receiving the best possible divorce representation and maximizing their funds spent.
3 Tips Keep Your Attorney's Fees Down While there are a number of unpredictable things that occur in the course of the divorce process, here are three helpful tips that can help keep your attorney's fees down in a divorce. Tip #1: Be Prompt When Responding to Your Divorce Attorney The first “tip” is to always respond to your attorney in a timely fashion. Your divorce attorney will likely ask you to review pleadings, discovery, send discovery and more. If you respond to your attorney in a timely manner then they don’t have to “chase you down” for a response. Anytime an attorney has to contact you there is typically cost involved. Staying on top of your case and on top of the tasks your attorney asks you to complete will maximize your representation and minimize your cost. Tip #2: Provide Your Attorney with All Discovery Documents and Responses As Quickly As Possible A second “tip” is to turn over discovery as completely and as quickly as you can, in an organized fashion. If you turn over documents that are organized in a way that the attorney can quickly review them, you are cutting down on attorney's fees for time being billed to go through those documents. Additionally, like the tip of promptly responding to your attorney, if your attorney doesn't have to chase you down to obtain these documents you are automatically prevented from spending money on having your attorney ask you to comply with the discovery request. Tip #3: Always Listen to Your Divorce Attorney Finally, a third “tip” is to listen to your attorney. This might sound like a silly tip, but there is an art to listening. When your attorney calls you there is a purpose and that purpose is not to find out every horrible thing your ex-spouse has done over the past few years. Your attorney calls you for a specific reason. Be the listener and listen to what your attorney is asking you, and then stay on track and respond to only what you are being asked. This will minimize phone conversation time and also minimize your bill. If you spend a lot of time on the phone with your lawyer talking about issues that are not relevant to the case or the current proceedings, then you are spending money on attorney’s fees that could be put to better use in your case. There are always aspects of a divorce or family law case that can drive up cost that the clients and attorneys do not have control over. However, following these three tips can help you take control over the legal cost of specific aspects of your divorce case and keep your attorneys fee's down. THIS ARTICLE WAS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AT: https://illinoislawforyou.com/attorneys-fees/tips-keep-your-attorneys-fees-down-in-a-divorce/
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As a busy divorce attorney, I am often asked about the key to a successful divorce. When I mention to people one of the key factors is getting prepared for their divorce, I often get a strange look. Who does that? But we prepare for everything! How many of us wake up one day and go get a job? Go get a house? Go and have a child? We prepare before we make important decisions, and getting a divorce is no different. Now that you've decided to prepare for success, what steps should be taken next?
A Successful Divorce Starts with Hiring the Right Attorney The most important decision you will make is hiring the right divorce attorney. In my opinion, the divorce attorney you pick should practice exclusively in the areas of divorce and family law. This is a highly specialized field and you do not want a lawyer who is dabbling in real estate, personal injury and family law. Meet that attorney and see if you can work with them. Are they going to communicate with you? How will they communicate with you - email, phone, through a paralegal, etc.? Although you may want to handle your divorce amicably, keep in mind, if the need should arise, you will want a lawyer who can put up a good fight for you. You don't want to find yourself in the middle of a fight, and discover you have an attorney you cannot effectively handle that fight. You don't want someone who only wants to fight either, but someone who can do what you need. Get Your Financial Information In Order Once you've found the attorney you want to work with, get your financial picture in order. You need a clear picture of where you and your spouse stand financially. One of the primary goals of the divorce process is to the make an equitable distribution of marital assets debts. In order to get your fair share it is imperative that you know what is owned and what is owed This is a two-step process: 1. Determine what you own. Determine all property and assets you own since you got married. Some marital assets are obvious. It is clear that the marital home, any financial accounts and vehicles are assets that should be split equitably. Other not so obvious assets may include artwork, pension plans, inheritances or belongings brought into the marriage. You should make a list of all possible assets you own. Gather all documentation regarding each asset including the present value, when and where the asset was purchased and whether it was purchased with joint or separate funds. You will especially want a copy of any recent real estate appraisals. Turn all documentation over to your attorney. Be sure to keep a copy for yourself. To Download our helpful Guide to Marital Property click here. 2. Determine what you owe. When determining what you owe it does not matter whose name any debts are in. Marital debt will be split based on who is more financially able to pay the debt, not by whose name the debt is in. The easiest way to determine marital debt is to get a copy of your credit report. Any debt you have will be listed on your report. You will also be able to find out if there is any. Once you determine what debt exists you need to obtain statements on all open accounts with the balance due showing. When you turn this information over to your attorney, don’t forget to keep copies for your files. Gather Income Documentation You need documentation showing your income and the income of your spouse. If you and your spouse are salaried employees, you will need a copy of the most recent pay stubs plus your most resent income tax return. Self-Employment and Documenting Income Determining income becomes more difficult if your spouse is self-employed. In such a case, copies of bank account statements and financial business statements will give a clear picture of income. It is always a good idea to make copies of such statements before separating and filing for divorce. You may be able to get an idea of how much your spouse actually makes but, it can be almost impossible to determine true income when a spouse is self-employed. Gather what information you can and then your attorney can help get the rest through the discovery process. You'll need to prepare a budget, so you know exactly how much money you will need. This is important because the income you used to live on, is now going to be divided . Estimate Expenses Post-Divorce For a successful divorce, it will be important to know your financial needs once you are no longer with your spouse. You will have to estimate some expenses but it is important so that you can have some idea of what you will need to survive in your new life. It is also important because it will influence how you negotiate your divorce settlement. You need to know what you will need financially in order to evaluate your settlement options or what you may ask for should your case go to court. Establish Your Own Credit During Divorce If you don’t have any credit in your name alone you should establish some now. You can do this by obtaining a credit card but remember you want a card that is in your name only. Many women find that, after divorce they have a hard time purchasing a home or car because they have spent years sharing credit with their spouse. All that credit you’ve had over the years with your spouse is helpful to him but once you are a single woman, you will get very little ‘credit’ for keep those payments up. Avoid Going Into Debt Once you have a credit card in your name use is sparingly and make sure you are able to pay it off each month. The goal is to establish a good credit score not to run up a bunch of debt. This is done by using credit cards only to the degree that you are able to pay off monthly. Protect Joint Accounts You will want to protect yourself and keep your spouse from being able to clean out any joint accounts you have together. If you fear your spouse doing such a thing you can protect yourself by opening accounts in your name alone, remove half (½) the funds from the joint accounts, and deposit them into your new accounts. Do not hide the fact that you have done this and do not spend the money foolishly. Document every penny you spend so that you can have an accounting for it during settlement negotiations or in court. If you have savings accounts, money market accounts or any type investment accounts and you fear your spouse will tamper with those you should consider having the accounts frozen. You should, of course, discuss with your attorney any action you plan to take regarding joint financial accounts. Close Joint Credit Accounts Prior to Separation (if Possible) Before you separate when possible, close all joint credit accounts. Closing them before divorce proceedings will keep an angry spouse from using the account and running up charges that you may later be held responsible for. Nothing will derail a successful divorce process faster than a spouse revenge spending! Offer to close the accounts by paying a smaller amount than is owed. If this is done, get a letter from the creditor that the account has been paid in full and a written promise that they will not file anything derogatory about the account to the credit reporting agencies. If you are not able to pay off or come to a settlement agreement regarding the balance owed you should have the accounts frozen. This will keep you from being able to use the account but will also protect you in the end. Once the divorce is final, the balance owed on the account can be transferred to the party the court holds responsible for the debt. If the responsible party does not pay the debt then you don’t have to worry about it affecting your credit score. Advise Creditors of Pending Divorce Mounting credit card debt can derail a successful divorce. Contact and alert creditors to the fact that you are going through a divorce. If there is a change of address, make sure they know it so that you will continue to receive bills from all joint accounts. Make sure all credit card bills are being paid. Divorce proceedings can take months and all it takes is one late payment to hurt your credit. Even if you have to pay the minimum on accounts that you know will ultimately be your spouse’s responsibility it will be worth it. Don't Give Your Spouse Info to Use Against You in Court Lastly, do not give your spouse information to use against you in court. Facebook, Instagram and other social media accounts should only list information that you would share with your boss or a member of your church. If you really need to go out and party, don't take pictures of it! The divorce process will be stressful enough for you! Don't give your spouse ammunition to use against you! If you follow these steps you will be on your way to preparing for a successful divorce. And, don't go it alone! If you are in the Chicago area, Anderson & Boback family law attorney are here to help. Contact us today with your consultation request. THIS ARTICLE WAS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AT: https://illinoislawforyou.com/divorce/preparing-for-divorce/ Most divorce and family law attorneys require payment of a "retainer" when you hire or retain their services. A retainer is a lump sum of money that you pay to the lawyer or law firm so that they can collect payment of fees due to the firm for work they complete for your case, as those fees become due.
Sometimes you will be required to replenish your retainer when it is depleted. Other firms may request that you leave a credit card on file for billing after the retainer is depleted. In any event, most divorces are not done for a sum certain, or a “flat fee”, and a lot of clients do not understand why. Paying an Attorney Retainer in Divorce and Family Law Cases First, divorce attorneys are billed for their time in general. In family law cases, they usually have an hourly rate which is generally pro-rated in various increments. The reason why paying a retainer is required is because every case is unique. When you hire a divorce attorney, they have no idea whether or not your spouse is truly “in agreement” with what you and your spouse discussed for your “uncontested” divorce matter. (Although we are happy to draft a marital settlement agreement if there truly is one.) We also have no way of knowing whether or not your case will settle, go to hearing on a particular issue, or go to trial. Divorce cases, depending upon how they proceed, require a different amount of time from your attorney. It is hardly fair for the attorney to be paid the same amount for a case that takes 4 hours to complete as a case that takes 100 hours to complete. No attorney would want to work for the same amount of money for 4 hours or 100 hours of work. In fact, I don’t think any employee would want to work for the same amount of money for 4 hours versus 100 hours! If you work at McDonald’s and they told you that they are going to pay you $100 whether you work 4 hours or 100 hours, let’s be honest—you’d probably quit! The same logic follows here. Divorce attorneys do not possess a crystal ball that will tell us how much time we will spend on your case, and because of this, we have to take a retainer. The good news about a retainer is that if the entire retainer is not depleted due to working on your case, any sums that remain are typically returned to you. So, you have nothing to lose by paying the retainer. Any sums that are not used for services do get returned to you. THIS ARTICLE WAS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AT: https://illinoislawforyou.com/divorce/what-is-a-retainer-and-why-do-i-have-to-pay-it/ Co-parenting during the holidays presents some of the most challenging times of the year for families where the parents have divorced, are in the process of divorce or have separated. For the most part, the Allocation Judgment (formerly called a Parenting Agreement or Custody Judgment) should try to anticipate some of the parenting time issues which could arise surrounding the holiday season. However, no one can predict every single issue which will occur, and so often, the holiday parenting time schedule will need to be modified or adjusted.
Top Issues for Co-parenting During the Holidays The top co-parenting issues that arise during the holiday season involve the Winter Break for students and last-minute change requests that occur as parents juggle holiday parties, special events, and travel. Winter Break Challenges Winter Break can often be an issue because it falls around Christmas and New Year’s Eve - New Years Day in most districts, and it is almost always at least two (2) weeks long. Usually, the holidays themselves are allocated in some way to the parents, and then the Winter Break from school is also allocated, with the Christmas and New Year’s Holiday taking precedence. For example, in 2020, most schools will have Winter Break after school on Friday, December 18, 2020, to Sunday, January 3, 2021, with school resuming on January 4, 2021. The parenting agreement may say that each parent will have one week of winter break and that Mom has Christmas and Dad has New Year’s Day. That time frame is longer than two (2) weeks, and let’s say one parent is planning a trip during their “week” of the break. Although the Allocation Judgment indicates that everyone gets one week and who gets which holiday, all of the ‘extra’ time and schedule of everyone’s “week” (or more) of Winter Break needs to be sorted out. In some cases, the parties will have a parenting coordinator or a mediator who they can work with to try and sort of the scheduling issues. If you don’t, it is best to try and be cooperative and negotiate in a way that is fair. Maybe one person receives a disproportionate amount of time over Winter Break in 2020, but the other parent will receive a disproportionate amount of time in 2021 over Winter Break to make up for it. Judges try to be fair, and that means they will try to treat everyone equally. Usually, they take a commonsense approach to these sorts of issues, and it is something the parties could have come up with on their own if only they’d cooperate. Last-Minute Change Requests Another issue that often arises during the holidays for divorced or separated families is a last-minute change request. For example, perhaps a grandparent is coming in the last minute for Thanksgiving for a couple of days, but it is the other parent’s year for Thanksgiving Break. While no one will expect a parent to give up their Thanksgiving Holiday to the other parent simply because they have a relative in town who wants to see the minor children, a Court would likely try to allocate some time over Thanksgiving Break for the children to see their grandparent. Perhaps it is dinner or a special lunch. The only exception would be if there is pre-planned travel. When it comes to last-minute requests or changes, common sense and courtesy is “money in the bank” for you to use later with your ex, or sometimes even in Court. Plus, it is good for your children to see that their parents work together and show flexibility and cooperation. Holiday parenting time, along with school break and vacation parenting time can often be the hardest parenting time schedules to sort out. However, it is always best to try and be cooperative and work out an arrangement that benefits everyone, including the children, instead of running into Court and spending time and money. If you find challenges with co-parenting during the holidays and believe it is time to modify your Allocation Judgment, contact Anderson & Boback to speak to our experienced family law attorney. THIS ARTICLE WAS PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AT: https://illinoislawforyou.com/child-custody-visitation/co-parenting-during-the-holidays/ |
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