Have you and your spouse decided to call it quits? Are you planning on getting a divorce? If you are, chances are that you are likely to go to court to get divorced, which means the role of a family law attorney cannot be ignored. Divorce is usually the last option that couples tend to exercise, owing to that however more often than not, relations are strained and the use of courts to get divorce and have the assets distributed is imminent.
When you are preparing for an divorce case, most spouses tend to get all the aspects of planning and preparing right except for one of the most important ones. While planning a case is important, an even more important thing in this regard is planning for the costs of the attorney. The problem of paying to an attorney comes differently to people of different socio-economic segments of the society.
The people with low incomes are often worried about how they are going to be able to pay the costs of a divorce lawyer, while the rich earners are likely to be stressed about paying also the costs of their spouse’s lawyer.
To make sure you aren’t left unprepared or underprepared in this regard, here are some points to know so that you are able to plan better for the legal costs of the battle in courts ahead.
Can the Attorney Fees be mitigated by settlement of certain aspects?
When a divorce case starts, the first thing your divorce will do is to identify the aspects in the case that can be settled out of court and the ones that will need to go to court. This step is extremely important, since it involves the elimination of certain issues for going to court, thereby eliminating excess costs.
The cost of the cases, especially the ones that involve child custody, can range from a few thousand to tens of thousands. The reason for this is the nature of the complexity in the cases. If the cases being dealt with involve allegations of child abuse, substance abuse, or neglect and endangerment, the court is likely to take its time to investigate such claims.
Are you a high or a low earner? How is that doing to affect the attorney fees?
The second step in the process of planning for the costs of an Orange County divorce attorney is to determine the higher earner out of the two spouses. This determination is important because the higher earner is expected to contribute in the attorney fees of the other spouse as well. The importance of this rule cannot be stressed enough, since it is based on the concept of parity between the spouses and it is integral to the working of the family law system.
Gerald A. Maggio is an experienced Orange County divorce attorney and family law attorney located in Irvine, California, serving the Orange County and Riverside areas. Mr. Maggio assists clients with legal issues including divorce, legal separation, divorce mediation, child custody, prenuptial agreements, stepparent adoptions, and other family law issues. Mr. Maggio has practiced law in California since 1999, and founded The Maggio Law Firm in 2005, focusing exclusively on divorce and family law matters.
