However much of the runup in legal expenses, is unfortunately due to impetuous and unprepared clients.
- When you lawyer briefs you on the calendar items for you to address, do NOT procrastinate. Your procrastination will result in your lawyer having to hand hold you through the experience. That costs money.
- When you have to generate documents; as in financial statements, answers to interrogatories, etc. BE COMPLETE. Again, being vague or incomplete will result in your legal team spending more time with you than in necessary
- Your lawyer is NOT your confidant, friend or backboard to float ideas off of. STOP EMAILING your lawyer unnecessarily. You should be in contact with your lawyer when you have questions about documents you need to produce, what the next step it, etc. but unless you want to spend a LOT of extra money, you have to put aside the "what should we do if he or she does xyz". You probably should plan on a weekly half hour telephone call with your lawyer. But every time your lawyer reads an email from you, you have probably just spend a quarter of an hour, at least. You have to ask yourself, what is it that my lawyer can DO with the contents of the email that I am sending. Most often, it is NOTHING.
Out of Court Negotiations
Anything you can do to stay out of court while protecting your interests is a good thing. You MUST realize however that you are NOT going to get everything you want. Once you have decided to divorce, it is a negotiation. If your ex won't negotiate in good faith, then simply let the process continue. And I know that it is not simple.
Generally you will have to end up with alimony, property settlement and visitation agreements. Anything that you can negotiate without the lawyers involved is a good thing. Try and build some momentum by getting the property agreement done first. However, keep your attorney apprised once you get to visitation issues and most importantly, alimony. You might want to consider or the court will mandate alternative forms of dispute resolution, mediation, etc. You might want to consider that but don't feel that you MUST come out of those negotiations with an agreement, because it will most likely then be a bad agreement for you.
Do it yourself
There will be a number of documents that will be required to produce over time or provide input to your attorney to prep for negoations and/or trial. In many cases, people are so emotionally involved in the circumstances of the divorce, that it is often difficult or impossible to focus on the tasks involved to go through years of bills, and checks and credit card receipts. Many clients will pay their attorneys to do this.
Consider ways to absorb that workload yourself or talk to us at Valley Divorce Consultants to help you with these and other tasks.
There will be a number of documents that will be required to produce over time or provide input to your attorney to prep for negoations and/or trial. In many cases, people are so emotionally involved in the circumstances of the divorce, that it is often difficult or impossible to focus on the tasks involved to go through years of bills, and checks and credit card receipts. Many clients will pay their attorneys to do this.
Consider ways to absorb that workload yourself or talk to us at Valley Divorce Consultants to help you with these and other tasks.
Divorce Consultant
One might wonder, how does paying "another" professional help to reduct your legal expenses?
Most people will to some degree "bond" with their attorney during legal proceedings. This is natural. You are opening up the most intimate experiences of your life, all your personal information and potentially embarrassing experiences and choices you have made.
Unfortunately, it is very often the case that you will be spending a lot of money "communicating" with your lawyer, not because your attorney needed information, but because you thought and more accurately "felt" that your lawyer needed to know information. It is most often the case, and I have gone through this experience, that that information exchange did NOT need to happen when I felt it did. As a result the emails and phone calls, while seeming and feeling critical to you at the time were uinnecessary. This is not to say that the information would not be ultimately necessary for your counsel to know, but most often, it is best to "bundle up" issues to talk to your attorney about, usually once a week.
We at Valley Divorce Consultants can teach you the techniques to manage those communications and in some cases teach you how to resolve some of those issues yourself or to prioritize issues, focusing on the most important first.
Despite all the emotional issues involved in a divorce proceeding (and most often involving separation also), the process will get expensive. But YOU can manage that process. We can help you to reduce those costs.
A divorce is a life changing event, obviously. It will be expensive. However, there are ways to manage your costs and still get as good of an outcome as possible.
One might wonder, how does paying "another" professional help to reduct your legal expenses?
Most people will to some degree "bond" with their attorney during legal proceedings. This is natural. You are opening up the most intimate experiences of your life, all your personal information and potentially embarrassing experiences and choices you have made.
Unfortunately, it is very often the case that you will be spending a lot of money "communicating" with your lawyer, not because your attorney needed information, but because you thought and more accurately "felt" that your lawyer needed to know information. It is most often the case, and I have gone through this experience, that that information exchange did NOT need to happen when I felt it did. As a result the emails and phone calls, while seeming and feeling critical to you at the time were uinnecessary. This is not to say that the information would not be ultimately necessary for your counsel to know, but most often, it is best to "bundle up" issues to talk to your attorney about, usually once a week.
We at Valley Divorce Consultants can teach you the techniques to manage those communications and in some cases teach you how to resolve some of those issues yourself or to prioritize issues, focusing on the most important first.
Despite all the emotional issues involved in a divorce proceeding (and most often involving separation also), the process will get expensive. But YOU can manage that process. We can help you to reduce those costs.
A divorce is a life changing event, obviously. It will be expensive. However, there are ways to manage your costs and still get as good of an outcome as possible.
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