What Divorce Lawyers Can and Can’t Do

What Divorce Lawyers Can and Can’t Do

WHAT YOUR DIVORCE LAWYER CAN DO FOR YOU

Explain the law

What is the law on divorce, annulment, child custody and visitation, child support, spousal support, property division, and restraining orders?

Can you explain an annulment?

Tell me the steps between filing and Judgment?

What is an RFO?  Explain the law on date of separation?

How much support can you expect to pay or expect to receive?

Explain Legal Procedure

How long will this take?

What will the Judge be like?

What can you expect when you make this particular demand?

Is it worth it to go to court?

Represent You in Court

I will be your voice.  Divorce lawyers step into your shoes and tell your side of the story, convincingly and appropriately.  They will speak the language of LAW for you.

I will pacify a grumpy Judge who doesn’t like excessive verbosity.

Represent you to Opposing Counsel/Party

You are a good person.

You have reasonable demands.

Your lawyer will be on your side, arguing for your demands.

Protect Your Interests

You have rights defined by the law.

You need to know your rights, and how to enforce them.

Your lawyer is your protector.

Creatively Argue Facts with Law

Creatively argue the FACTS to best support the LAW. W

e can’t easily change the law, but lawyers are gifted at spinning FACTS which can get you the most you need under the law.

WHAT YOUR DIVORCE LAWYER CANNOT DO

Change the Law

Times change. Laws change.

But let’s be realistic, will the laws change during your divorce?  Probably not.

The 401k you acquired during the marriage, with no prenup?  That is community property. We can’t change that.

Your wife isn’t working and hasn’t worked for 10 years?  Sorry, but you’ll be paying alimony.

Even if she cheated on you?  That’s right.  We can’t change that.

You are a stay-at-home mom with a law degree with 2 school-aged children and you never want to work a day in your life, and want to collect support forever?   You will eventually need to find a job.  Child support terminates at age 18, or 19 if in high school. Spousal support – depends on many other factors. But unless you find another source of support, you WILL need to find a job. We can’t change that.

We Are Not Weapons of Mass Destruction

Divorce Lawyers are Not Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Make Your Personal Decisions For You

I aim to give excellent advice and counsel on legal issues.

For example, in your specific set of facts, is $2500 a fair amount of support to pay, for 10 months?

Is your parenting plan reasonable under the circumstance?

Can you move to Hawaii?

Should I get Divorced?   I will never be able to answer this – it’s personal.

This article may be informative: Am I Ready for Divorce?

Speed Up the Process

You can trust me to deliver prompt service.

However, I cannot control the other side.  Or their lawyers.

It only takes one party to drag out a case.  There are a many reasons why your divorce is taking too long.

I promise you that unless it is due to strategy, I will not purposely prolong your case. Also, I do not control the courts.

I promise that I will get you the earliest mediation and court appointment.

However, I can never promise you’ll get a trial date by January 2022, or an RFO date by January 30, 2022. I do not control the court calendar.

Guarantee the Outcome

I have a lot of experience with the court system, and family law.

It is my job, and I do it well.

However, I am not God. I do not have a crystal ball, and I don’t have sixth sense.

I am human, and I err.

So do NOT rely on me to tell you, to absolute perfection, what will happen if we go to court.

Understand My Role and Do Not Take Me For Granted

I’m a divorce lawyer.  I may get close to my clients.  After the case is over, I consider some my “family”.

However, I am NOT an on-call robot, and barring true emergencies, I cannot respond to your calls after-hours, or on the weekends.

I cannot give you my cell phone number.  You have my email, and during work hours, you can expect a response, same day.

There are times we may look at and answer your email over the weekend, but this is generally the exception and not to be relied upon by you that we are accessible on weekend.

We Cannot Be Your Personal, On-Call, 24/7 Advisor

We understand that your case is important to you, and we honor that.

You have our word that we do not take our clients’ trust for granted.

Please understand – there may be other clients in a similar situations.  If I am in court on the day of your emergency, I simply cannot tend to you immediately. I am very fortunate to have very competent staff, who are always here to respond to your needs.

However, if you need to talk to me, you will need to make an appointment. I will do my best to get to you ASAP.

When you hire us, you can expect reliable, competent, and hard-working lawyers.

But we aren’t perfect.

And likewise, we can expect that you are truthful, dependable and pay our bills.

And we also know you may not be perfect.

Knowing this can help us build a solid relationship.