Updated 06/30/22
Unfortunately, most marriages in the United States end in divorce. If you are facing this situation, how you choose to handle your divorce will depend on how complex it is. If someone in your family or circle of friends has prior experience with divorce matters, they can help you. Consider the type of person you find easiest to converse with and ask vital questions like ‘ what is divorce mediation? Or ‘can both husband and wife file for divorce?’ before you decide to initiate the process.
You will probably share personal aspects of your marriage life; therefore, ensure that you get along with the person. You can consult an experienced divorce lawyer if you need to file the divorce papers since they are the most suitable people for submitting divorce papers to court. ‘Can a no fault divorce be contested?’ is an important question to ask a professional divorce lawyer to help you get a detailed answer. Generally, a no-fault divorce enables you to dissolve your marriage without focusing on blame, even though there is always a reason for marriages to fail.
If you’re like most people, you went into your marriage full of hope for the future. You and your husband have a great relationship and you are going to make it work. You don’t think you will ever need the services of a divorce lawyer. Unfortunately, most marriages end in divorce. In the United States, there is a divorce every 30 seconds. Women today are 15 times more likely to be divorced or separated than they were in 1920. If you talk to a family law attorney, they will tell you a “lack of commitment” is citied the most often as the reason for divorces.
If you find yourself in the position to get a divorce you will need a divorce attorney. Most law firms offer a free divorce consultation so take advantage of that to find the divorce lawyer that can really do the best job for your case. Here are some other things to think about as you go through the process of finding a divorce family law attorney:
- Research different lawyers and ask a lot of questions. You probably have friends and/or family who went through a divorce. Ask them how they coped, where they found a family law attorney. Take advantage of the free consultation to ask prospective lawyers about their experience with divorces. You need someone who does a lot of these to make yours go smoothly. This should not be done by a criminal defense lawyer, for instance. Ask about their track record. Make sure you feel really comfortable with their experience.
- Think about what you really want. Are you on speaking terms with your spouse? Do you expect your divorce to get messy? Do you have children? The complexity of the divorce will make a big difference in who you select to handle your divorce. Think about what kind of person is easier for you to talk to. You are going to have to be able to confide in this person and the most private parts of your life will be part of everything. Make sure you click with the person.
- Review your finances and draft a budget. How much do you have to spend? How much with the entire thing cost? What are the lawyers fees? Think more about what you want out of the divorce, some attorneys can be really expensive.
During the divorce process, try to detach yourself. It is easy for people who are going through these to attach significance to things that are trivial. Splitting up property can bring that out in people. There may be a time when you decide that the dish rack you bought at Target is the most important thing you have ever owned. It is not and deep down, you know that. You may be feeling hurt or betrayed, you do yourself no favors by drawing it out by fighting over things like this.
Some people feel like a failure when they go through one of these. You are not. These things happen. If you have children, you need to work extra hard to make sure they do not feel they are to blame. Try to minimize the disruption to their lives. You won’t be able to shield them from it but if you deal with them like individuals and explain everything along the way, you can make it less scary for them and less stressful for everyone involved.
Doing research before a family law attorney will help relieve your stress and make the process a lot simpler for you and your family.