4 Ways to Get Full Value Out of Your Divorce-Attorney Consultation
Many people preparing to divorce have personal questions that only an attorney can answer. In order to preserve attorney-client privilege, a consultation has to be scheduled, or else a lawyer's services must be retained. Well before you physically meet with a divorce lawyer, you can organize your thoughts and prepare yourself in a manner that will help you to make the most of your consultation or meeting. Here are four ways to ensure that your divorce-lawyer consultation is highly productive.
1. Do Your Own Research - Divorce laws are different in each state, so doing preliminary research will better enable you to ask your divorce attorney the right questions. Find out whether there is a minimum separation period or whether you will be advantaged by petitioning for divorce first. Doing this will ensure that no time is wasted, allowing you to get to the information that matters to your particular situation the most.
2. Have Complete Documentation of Your Assets - During divorce, separated couples must declare their assets, including income, disability, stocks and annuities, and any businesses owned. You do not want to go to your consultation with only a ballpark estimate of how much you are worth, as this will not allow your divorce lawyer to give you personalized advice or precise answers. Knowing what your soon-to-be former spouse is worth is also beneficial, but in the beginning stages your attorney will want to know about your assets so that a good strategy can be developed.
3. Come with All of Your Evidence - If you plan on divorcing because your spouse is irresponsible with money because of infidelity or even substance-abuse problems, you should go to your divorce-lawyer consultation with all of your evidence in tow. Remember that your attorney will be most interested in what can be proven in court, not the things that you have only a suspicion of. Of course, your documentation should be well organized so that it can be easily referenced, but let your attorney be the one to determine whether certain paperwork is necessary or not.
4. Be Emotionally Prepared - While the idea of divorcing may be enticing right now, your feelings may take a left turn once you start to make the divorce a reality. Good divorce attorneys are very accommodating, as they realize that divorce is an emotional process, but you should try to prepare yourself for your meeting so that your consultation time together is well spent. You may need to clear your schedule for a few days so that you can focus on being prepared for your consultation as well as on recovering from emotion that may arise once you get a divorce lawyer's expert opinion on your case.
Talk to a firm such as the Law Offices of Kent Bulloch to get started.
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