What to Expect When Contacting a Divorce Attorney For the First Time
Reaching out to a divorce attorney is probably the last thing you thought would happen when you got married, but it has become the reality of your current situation. Many clients are often very uncomfortable and nervous initially contacting Kevin Hickey Law Partners, but once they do, they realize we are here to help them make this emotional and uncertain time as smooth as possible for them. In order for our firm to help you, there are a few things we will need from you to make the best of this experience:
As simple as it may sound, you must provide us your name. That seems to be one of the hardest things to do for some. After being a family law attorney for many years, I believe this is hard for some because finally saying it out loud to take the next step to end your marriage makes it feel more “real” to them. While many people are reluctant to provide their name and information over the phone, an attorney needs to make sure there is no conflict of interest. If your spouse has already contacted our firm, then we cannot represent you.
After we get your name and pertinent information, we will ask that you schedule an appointment with us. Don’t worry, scheduling the appointment doesn’t mean you are bound to anything. This just gives us both an opportunity to meet face to face to discuss your unique situation and the steps to obtaining your divorce. After the initial consultation, you can decide if you want our firm to represent you.
Preparing for the initial consultation involves obtaining specific information that will help us build the best case for you. After scheduling your appointment, we will ask you to bring certain documents and information relevant to your case such as the date of your marriage, a date or separation and/or the date you or your spouse stopped living together, information regarding your children, asset information and other information we may deem necessary. It is very important that you take the time to gather the information and documents before the consultation in order for us to offer you the best representation possible.
At the initial consultation, we will discuss the process of divorce. For instance, where and how to file for divorce, if you should file for divorce, if your spouse is planning to or if the divorce has already been filed.
If you choose Kevin Hickey Law Partners to represent you, we will need demographic information such as addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and social security numbers for both you and your spouse. We also need to know if there are any minor children of the marriage, their dates of birth, addresses where they have lived the last few years and any issues or concerns about your soon-to-be former spouse. We will also need to know detailed information about your parenting and the other parent’s parenting to help make assessments regarding the possibility of child custody and visitation. Additionally, we will need to know why you are divorcing. Do you want the divorce? Does your spouse? Were there infidelity issues or any other problems?
We don’t expect you to have all financial information during the initial meeting, but we do want to gather a general knowledge regarding your finances and lifestyle. Once we find out this information, we will be able to determine how we should proceed with your case regarding division of marital assets, debts, child support, alimony, and other financially related items. We will also tell you which documents or other information we will need.
Finally, we will discuss how we charge for our services and the fee arrangement. We will require a retainer to retain our services to begin working on your divorce case. Our firm believes in transparency regarding our fees, what is expected of you and more importantly, what you expect from our firm. Kevin Hickey Law Partners will make every effort to make sure your divorce goes smoothly and has the best outcome possible for you.