4 Practical Tips to Help You Lower the Cost of a Divorce Attorney
Table of Contents 4 Practical Tips to Help You Lower the Cost of a Divorce Attorney – Opt For Out Of Court Settlement – Choose Your Battles Wisely – Keep Your Living Costs Down – Respect What The Judge Tells You Top 3 Most Contentious Issues in a High Net Worth Divorce – Children’s Well-Being – Distribution Of Assets – Spousal Support 6 Simple Secrets of a Smooth Divorce Mediation Process
4 Practical Tips to Help You Lower the Cost of a Divorce Attorney Unlike other types of cases that may be charged on a contingency basis and may not require upfront payments, most divorce attorneys charge flat fees or by the hour for their services. Accordingly, it is common to see many divorce cases, even those that end in out of court settlements, cost several thousands of dollars. This can be a huge financial burden, especially if you are already battling with other living expenses and emotions. Fortunately, you can control how much your divorce process will cost. Irrespective of how your divorce process is unfolding, there are steps that you can take to lower your costs.
Opt For Out Of Court Settlement Divorce attorneys do not just handle child custody battles but you can also spot them outside of court trying to help a few couples finalize the divorce documents they have already procured. They can also help you reach an amicable agreement with your spouse outside court. By settling things outside of court and only using the attorney to perform a final check on your documents, you can easily save a lot of money in the process.
Choose Your Battles Wisely Everything that you are going to fight for in your divorce is going to cost you. For instance, if you decide to challenge your spouse for $1000 antique furniture and you win, you may find that the time your attorney spends to fight for the item is costing you $1500. Avoid wasting money in battles that involve low-value or replaceable assets like furniture and electronic devices. Instead, focus on finalizing the divorce process. Spend money fighting for things that matter the most such as treasured possessions and a fair child custody arrangement.
Keep Your Living Costs Down It can be a bit expensive to maintain two households, particularly if you have a home or a house that you cannot afford on one income. If possible, consider remaining in the same household until you finalize the divorce process or until the house is sold.
Respect What The Judge Tells You If you have to be taken to court to follow a court order regarding a few monthly child support payments, the court is likely to enforce its original order and even force you to pay the legal fees incurred by your spouse. So, even if you disagree with the judge’s decision on a few aspects, never attempt to disobey a court order. You will end up paying extra legal fees in the long run.
Bottom-line If your marriage is faltering and you see that a divorce is inevitable, the best thing to do is seek the services of a divorce attorney. However, this does not mean that you have to drain your bank account to pay for legal fees. Investigate your options and see what you can do to protect your long-term financial situation and shape your future. Hopefully, the above tips will go a long way in helping you cut your attorney fees and other legal costs.
Top 3 Most Contentious Issues in a High Net Worth Divorce Divorce is always a challenging process both financially and emotionally, and it gets even more complex for high net-worth individuals. Since there is more money involved in high net worth divorces, there are likely to be more contentious issues to be sorted out. To keep you on the loop, here is a quick overview of the most common issues that you are likely to deal with in a high net worth divorce.
Children’s Well-Being It is always advisable to prioritize the health and well-being of your children. You will not have any favorable outcome in a divorce if your children are disadvantaged by the ruling or the divorce process. Remember that child support is intended to cater to the financial needs of your children, including their medical, education, and other extracurricular needs. Take note of your state’s child support guidelines as well to get the most out of the process. For instance, in most states, the child support guidelines are pegged on net monthly income. The amount of net income that can be considered for child support is also capped to certain amounts though there are circumstances when child support may be awarded above such a cap if the needs of the child are proven to be more.
Distribution Of Assets Another contentious issue in high net worth divorce cases is determining how assets will be distributed. Although the goal of most divorce processes is equitable asset distribution, the intricacies of determining which assets are to be allocated to one spouse are very complex. For instance, no spouse is ready to be left with assets that attract a lot of out of pocket expenses such as insurance and taxes. Most spouses tend to favor liquid assets and some amount of cash.
Spousal Support In most divorce cases, spousal support is paid to the non-breadwinning spouse for maintaining their lifestyle and giving them an opportunity to look for jobs or develop job skills that can allow them to support themselves. In a bigger percentage of divorce cases, this is usually a complex and partially subjective process as there are no clear laws to guide court decisions. In particular, payment calculations often cause a lot of confusion in high net worth divorce cases. For instance, when a spouse conceals assets like bank accounts and property from discovery, it may result in spousal support payment calculations that may leave one party disadvantaged. In fact, it is very common for one party to take advantage of the other during a high net worth divorce cases—either through fraudulently concealing crucial financial information or through misrepresenting assets.
Bottom-line There you have it; 3 of the most common contentious issues in most high net worth divorce cases. Yours may be different and will depend on whether you are the breadwinner or the non-breadwinning spouse. There will also be a lot of variables that will determine the issues that can be negotiated and those that may require further litigation. The best thing to do is to partner with the right high net worth divorce attorney to help you work towards getting a favorable outcome.
6 Simple Secrets of a Smooth Divorce Mediation Process Emotions are often high in most divorce mediation processes and reaching an agreement might seem next to impossible. This may force you to act with your feelings rather than your wit. Although separating from your spouse comes with a lot of stress, there are a few secrets that you can leverage to make the process smoother.
Avoid Acting With Emotions Do not let your emotions control your mediation sessions. Remember that coming to an amicable agreement on any issue during the process is highly dependent on you maintaining a clear mind. This should not be a time to lash out.
To be safer, especially if you had experienced negative emotions or funny mood swings during the separation, consider speaking to a therapist before attending any mediation session. Attending a counseling session will not only help you clear your mind but it will also promote good health and growth as you go through the divorce.
Focus On The Future You need to forget about the past before you enter into any mediation session. Focus on your future and figure out how you can turn things around with the decisions at hand. Consulting a counselor before the mediation process can go a long way in helping you develop a sound action plan.
Cooperate Being stubborn is counterproductive. You should be willing to negotiate some terms and remain flexible. Understand that you might not achieve all your wishes, but the outcome can be favorable if your ex-spouse is also willing to be flexible while making decisions.
Be Patient Some people are often under the impression that all divorce cases should end up in court. This is not always true as couples can sometimes resolve their issues outside of court. Before a divorce mediation process, take your time and do some research on different ways that you can approach it. Gather yourself, consult marriage counselors, and collect information on the best practices for making choices during mediation. Do not rush things. Slow and steady moves win the race.
Hire More Divorce Experts Do not expect one professional to handle everything for you during a divorce mediation process. If there is a retirement fund that needs to be divided, a business that needs valuation, or outstanding tax liabilities, then you can easily see why more than one professional is needed to help you handle the divorce.
Balance Your Interests And Those Of Your Children Never assume that what is best for you should also be best for your children. Always remember that your children have different needs than you do. We understand that you love your kids and it would take a bullet for them. But this does not mean that you do not have needs. Moving to a new school district to allow you to reduce the number of hours you spend to drive to a job that you have held for several years is not about your children—it is about you. Additionally, introducing a new love around your kids as ‘your friend’ within a few months post-separation is not about your children but you. Divorce mediation does not have to be a train wreck. Implement the above tips and you will be more likely to have a smoother experience.