What to Know When Looking for a Divorce Attorney
No one consciously goes into a marriage anticipating divorce, regardless of what national statistics may tell you about the fact that “most marriages end in separation.” But when it does occur, it can become a messy proposition to say the least, especially if you’re dealing with an unreasonable soon-to-be ex-spouse or other factors such as children or valuable belongings. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of needing to find a competent divorce attorney in California, your priorities should be on choosing one who will provide you with the legal advice you need at a price you can afford, all while representing the right fit for your situation.
The first thing to understand is that every attorney, like everyone else you encounter in life, possesses his or her own ideas, beliefs, philosophies and way of doing things, and as such each lawyer has his or her own approach to divorce. More importantly, though, every lawyer tends to be good at some things and not so good at others – for example, some attorneys are incredible litigators in court, yet make complete messes out of collaborative divorces. On the other hand, some are great negotiators but not particularly competent trial lawyers.
If you want to survive your divorce in a way that has you coming out on top, you need to arm yourself with some knowledge about how to choose a divorce lawyer who is going to be right for you.
Here are the top three tips McKean Family Law can offer with that in mind:
- Determine What Kind of Legal Service You Actually Need
The way we here at McKean Family Law see it, everyone who is going through a divorce needs legal advice, but what they don’t need is a bill from some $500-per-hour big city law firm if their circumstances don’t really demand it. What do we mean by this? Well, if you have a lot of assets, own corporations or have a complicated financial situation, then, yes, you may need a large firm to represent you. But if you’ve been in a short marriage, have no children, possess no real estate and are not dividing any retirement plans, hiring a big firm may be overkill.
- Take the Divorce Process into Consideration
Some attorneys feel this is actually more important than the first tip, but just know that you have to decide whether you want to engage in mediation, litigation, collaborative divorce measures or some other process. Once this is decided, you can begin seeking out a divorce lawyer who is seasoned in that particular process.
- Figure Out Your Budget
Like everything else in life – well, for most of us, anyway – budget determines every move, and we can tell you from experience that no one wants to pay thousands of dollars (or more) for divorce law assistance…but, we can also tell you that there is such a thing as being “penny wise and pound foolish.” In other words, you need to balance the level of legal services that you need with the cost of the services that you can afford.
And, you need to be honest with yourself, first and foremost.
When it comes to checking all the boxes when shopping for a divorce law firm, look no further than McKean Family Law – we have the family lawyer Roseville has been waiting for. For more information please call (916) 666-7874.