After being sure to choose a divorce lawyer to handle your case, what you should do next is to do a consultation with your chosen lawyer. During consultation, you will have to ask as many questions as possible, so you will easily get an enlightenment in the process of divorce, especially if this is your first time to get into a divorce process.
To make it more understandable for you during consultation with your attorney, we’ll give you a list of questions that you have to ask. Of course, there are a number of questions you can ask to your chosen divorce attorney and all about your case. Okay, let’s dive into our post to get those questions!
Kinds of Questions You Can Ask Divorce Lawyer During Consultation
According to farzadlaw.com, there are at least 50 important questions you can ask divorce attorney during consultation. This website divides all the questions into categories, since it will help you to understand what kinds of questions you should ask divorce lawyer during consultation.
Here are they:
Category 1: About Communication
Knowing how reachable your attorney is very important. When you get divorced, this long-term process may put you in the urgent situation where you really need your attorney quickly. If your attorney is not fast-responding, it may be hard for you to settle down your case. So, communication is the most important part in your divorce process.
Here are some example questions you can ask to your chosen divorce attorney about communication:
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- How often will we communicate about my case?
- How will we communicate with each other?
- What communication should I have with my spouse about the issues you and I discuss?
- How can I keep communication between my spouse and me amicable?
- How will I receive copies of paperwork related to my case?
Category 2: File Security and Access
In addition to communication matters, you can also ask your divorce attorney about file security and access. Of course, it’s very important to ensure whether or not your divorce attorney can keep your file securely.
Aside from that, your divorce attorney also needs to explain how you have access to your file after any reasonable request by you. Certainly, you must be able to see any portion of your file.
Here are some example questions you can ask to your chosen divorce attorney about file security and access:
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- How will you keep my file secure?
- How will I have access to my file?
- Are there portions of my file I cannot view?
- Are there portions of my file of which I cannot have a copy?
Category 3: Reference and Reviews
In the case of choosing a divorce attorney, you may want someone who has experience in handling any divorce case, right? Certainly, it’s very important for you to ask your chosen divorce attorney to explain what he/she has done to settle down any divorce cases.
Here are some example questions you can ask to your chosen divorce attorney about preferences and reviews:
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- Will you offer references from previous clients?
- Are all of the reviews and testimonials on your website from former clients?
Category 4: Delegation of Responsibility
You also need to know whether the attorney can be working on your case or not. Keep in mind, if the law office you hire only has one attorney, of course, the attorney could be the one who makes the court appearances. So, make sure your chosen attorney has a high responsibility.
Here are some example questions you can ask to your chosen divorce attorney about delegation of responsibility:
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- What people at the law office will work on my case?
- Who makes court appearances on my case?
Category 5: Cost of Divorce
It’s very important for you to ask a divorce attorney about the cost of divorce before signing a contract. You can also ask your divorce attorney how much you will be charged and if there are any additional costs you should pay.
Here are some example questions you can ask to your chosen divorce attorney about the cost of divorce:
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- How much will my divorce cost?
- What can I do to control the cost of the divorce?
- What are the steps my spouse may take to increase the cost of the divorce?
Category 6: Reasonable Expectation of Results
Here are some example questions you can ask to your chosen divorce attorney about reasonable expectation of results:
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- How does the court typically rule on issues such as those in my divorce?
- After stating the issue about which you have a question, ask the attorney what the law specifically states about that issue.
Category 7: Living Arrangements
The kinds of questions you can ask your divorce attorney about living arrangements is to ensure what you should do after divorce trial. Here are some examples questions of living arrangements:
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- Should I move out of the family home or should my spouse do so?
- Can I kick my spouse out of the house?
Category 8: Temporary Orders
Asking the question about temporary orders is necessary, since it can lead to final orders. Need to know, temporary and final orders are not the same terms as well. Here are some examples questions of temporary orders:
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- What temporary orders should I seek?
- How does the process of getting a temporary order work?
Category 9: Child custody and parenting time
Of course, you should ask questions related to child custody and parenting time. Here are some examples questions you can ask about:
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- What is legal custody?
- What is physical custody?
- What child custody and parenting plan makes sense for my case based on everything I told you?
Category 10: Spousal Support
Even though the question about spousal support is very sensitive, it’s very important to talk about it with your divorce attorney. It is known that Spousal Support is money paid back by one spouse to the other after separating. Here are some examples questions you can ask about:
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- How much can I expect to receive in spousal support?
- Is spousal support modifiable during the divorce?
- Will we need to hire a forensic accountant to help with the alimony determination?
Of course, there are some remaining questions categorized into 50 important questions you should ask to your chosen attorney.
Here are examples of other questions you can ask your divorce attorney, according to farzadlaw.com:
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- How much child support will I receive?
- Is child support modifiable during the divorce?
- Will we need to hire a forensic accountant to help with the child support determination?
- Can I seek attorney’s fees against my spouse?
- Will I have to pay my spouse’s attorney fees?
- What can I do if my spouse unreasonably increases the attorney’s fees I incur? Do I have any recourse?
- How long will my divorce take?
- What is the typical divorce process from start to finish?
- What is community property in my case?
- What is separate property in my case?
- What do you expect to be the contested issues in my case?
- When do you think we will resolve the uncontested issues in my case?
- Will I have to review and approve settlement offers before you make them?
- How will the negotiation process proceed?
- What are the hourly rates for the people who will be working on my case?
- How does the retainer deposit and any replenishment of that deposit work throughout the case?
- How often will I receive a bill from you?
- What happens if I have questions about the bill you send me?
- Do you have time to handle my case?
- How many cases other than mine are you handling?
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