Believe it or not, there are steps you can take to make your divorce a much smoother and cost effective process. Here are a few money saving divorce tips from the Lawyers of at The Kronzek Firm: Contact us to find out even more.
1. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Often times through the process of a divorce, the parties get bogged down when dividing their personal property, such as linens, kitchen ware and holiday decorations. Understandably, it’s hard to divide items that you are accustomed to using on a regular basis. However, the more personal items you and your spouse agree upon, the less time your attorney spends on it, in turn reducing cost.
2. Remember Your Attorney is Not a Therapist
Understand that divorce can be an extremely emotional experience. Attorneys give legal advice. They are not qualified to give advice regarding emotional health issues. It is best to leave that for the appropriate professionals. Simply put, don’t pay an attorney for advice they are not qualified to give!
3. Count to 10… Slowly
If you find yourself in the position of frantically dialing your attorney, stop. Count to 10…slowly. Grab a notebook and pen and begin writing down your questions, organize your thoughts, and take a deep breath. This money saving divorce tip should drastically reduce the amount of time you spend talking with your lawyer. You can go through the organized questions when you are in an appropriate frame of mind to process the advice. This tip will not only save you money on attorney fees, but organized communications puts your attorney in a much better position to assist you.
4. Be Your Own Detective
As one of the parties to your marriage, you are in the best position to provide information to your attorney. As soon as possible, you should begin collecting documents regarding all of your marital assets, debts and any separate property. The more information you are able to provide your lawyer, the less work he or she will need to do to hunt these down. DO NOT pay your lawyer to track down information that may be right at your fingertips!
5. Hire an Experienced Attorney
Having an experienced and knowledgeable lawyer who knows how to navigate through the divorce process is one additional money saving divorce tip. If a mistake is made, oftentimes it is more costly to fix the mistake than it would have been to do it correctly the first time. Hiring an inexperienced attorney, even if he or she may be less expensive at the outset, may result in a much more costly divorce in the end.
6. Tell Your Lawyer the Truth!
Marriages, and subsequently divorces, deal with very delicate and personal information. Sometimes clients say or do things during their marriage that they may be ashamed of or regret. It is best not to hide any information from your attorney. If your attorney has to spend time researching or investigating something that you had knowledge of, that is time and money spent that could have been used on more important aspects of your case. Likewise, you do not want your attorney to be “surprised” during a Court proceeding by information that may negatively affect your case. It is best to be upfront and forthcoming with ALL information at the beginning of the case. An experienced lawyer will know how to deal with it and ultimately it will cost you less in the long run.
If you are contemplating a divorce or if your divorce is currently pending, contact one of the experienced attorneys at The Kronzek Firm to learn how we can help.