what to bring to attorney first consultation divorce

Some of the items you should consider bringing to your initial meeting are: Information pertinent to the reason you are seeking a divorce for example, if your spouse is running up debt, bring account information; if your spouse is being abusive, bring hospital bills, photos or police reports

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What should I wear to my first meeting with a lawyer?

The standard attire for meeting with you lawyer should be business casual. Wear dress pants, a nice shirt or top. Women should wear a conservative dress or skirt. Nothing too revealing.

How do I prepare my initial consultation with a divorce attorney in Texas?

This first meeting is crucial to the process of divorce in Texas.Relax. ... Be Prepared to Ask Questions. ... Gather Important Financial Documents. ... Be Ready to Discuss Personal Details about Your Life. ... Make a List of Your Goals In Divorce.

What questions should I ask at an attorney consultation?

Questions to Ask Your Lawyer During a Consultation1) What kind of experience do you have with similar cases?2) What would be your strategy for my case?3) Are there any alternatives to going to court?4) What are my possible outcomes?5) Who will actually handle my case?6) What is my role in my case?More items...

How do you prepare to meet a lawyer?

Tips For Meeting With Your Lawyer For the First TimeDress To Impress. ... Be Ready To Give Your Attorney Important Information About Yourself. ... Gather Your Evidence And Have It Ready For Your First Meeting. ... Get Your Facts Straight. ... Plan Something You Can Look Forward To For After Your Meeting.

What are 3 questions you should ask a lawyer before hiring?

Five Questions You Should Ask:Will you be the attorney personally handling my case?Will you take the case all the way to trial if necessary?What results have you obtained in the past for cases like mine?Can I call or email you directly with questions I have about my case?More items...

What you should know before you talk to a lawyer?

10 Things You Should Know Before Contacting a LawyerHave Your Documents Ready. ... Research the Elements of Your Case. ... Don't Call if You Just Have a Question. ... You May Not Speak to a Lawyer Right Away. ... Do Not Ask the Legal Support Staff for Advice. ... Don't Provide Too Much Information. ... Answer the Lawyer's Specific Questions.More items...•

What does a consultation consist of?

A meeting to discuss, decide, or plan something, as a meeting of several doctors to discuss the diagnosis and treatment of a patient. A conference for the exchange of information and advice. The act or process of consulting. A meeting between physicians to discuss the diagnosis or treatment of a case.

What do lawyers do in a consultation?

During your consultation, the attorney will ask about the issues in your case and discuss the merits of the actions and the various ways you can proceed. There will then be a mutual selection process.

What is initial consultation?

An Initial consultation is a 90 minute consultation for a new client who would like to meet with a psychologist to discuss current issues and/or concerns and talk about strategies and goals for therapy and/or a treatment plan.

What is the point of a lawyer?

As advocates, they represent one of the parties in criminal and civil trials by presenting evidence and arguing in court to support their client. As advisors, lawyers counsel their clients about their legal rights and obligations and suggest particular courses of action in business and personal matters.

What do you say when talking to a lawyer?

Tips for Talking to an AttorneyAlways be as honest and candid as possible about the facts of your case. ... Ask questions if you don't understand something that your attorney mentions or explains to you.Approach an attorney about your case as soon as you think you may need one.More items...•

What are some questions an attorney might ask a new client?

What Questions do Lawyers Ask Their Clients?What is your case about? A lawyer will want to know every single detail of your case. ... What do you hope to accomplish? ... How do you want us to communicate? ... Why did you choose me? ... Are you comfortable with my rates?

What is an attorney vs lawyer?

However, when practising law, lawyers can only provide legal assistance, advice, and counselling to their clients while an attorney can represent clients in court and initiate defendant prosecutions in addition to providing legal counsel and consultation.

Why would a good lawyer not tell a client how their case will come out at the initial consultation?

Why would a good lawyer not tell a client how their case will come out at the initial consultation? A good lawyer knows that every case is different and without doing research. A good lawyer will not guarantee the outcome of any case.

What is an intake form for family law?

Most family law lawyers have an intake form that gives them a snapshot of the issues and your goals, and gives them important details about you and your family. At McCabe Russell, we don’t require you to fill it out our intake form advance, but if you can, it helps us move forward. Agreements.

What to do if you have been keeping a calendar of events?

Calendars/Journals. If you’ve been keeping a calendar of events or journaling, you should consider bringing those to help jog your memory about timeline and events. Inflammatory Documents. Don’t hold back from your attorney.

What is the purpose of texting your spouse?

It gives the attorney a sense of how you and your spouse or co-parent communicate, and it gives your attorney an opportunity to coach you through good and bad responses.

What information does a credit card statement contain?

Other debt information (car loans, credit card debt, etc). As with the other documents, credit card statements contain a ton of information that can be useful to your attorney – the debt information, of course, but your history of spending (and your spouse’s) can also assist your attorney as you move forward. Text Message History.

Who is Heather from the law firm?

Heather is the firm’s managing partner and divorce law guru. Heather knows all the ins and outs of divorce in Maryland and DC, and she knows exactly what to do to put her clients in a position to accomplish their goals.

Do you need a mortgage statement and a copy of deed?

Mortgage Statement and/or Copy of Deed. It’s not uncommon for clients not to know what is owing on their own mortgage or even whether they are on the mortgage. Bringing a mortgage statement and a copy of the deed can help your lawyer determine the answers to these important questions.

What evidence do you need to get divorced?

This evidence might include photos, videos, notes/messages, or social media posts relating to the divorce. This evidence might be proof of things like cheating or abuse.

What to bring to a house sale with a partner?

You’ll want to grab things like your escrow papers, mortgage statements, and deeds.

Why do you need to review legal documents?

Reviewing these legal documents will allow your lawyer to better understand your situation during the divorce. They will also help your lawyer construct an estimated timeline of the divorce proceedings.

Is divorce an emotional process?

Going through a divorce is an emotional process, but don’t let yourself mistake a divorce consultation for a therapy session. Remember, this is a time to ask legal questions and get answers you cannot find from other people.

Does attorney-client privilege extend to third parties?

However, this attorney-client privilege does not extend to third parties, including anyone you may bring with you to a consultation. A third party who is privy to confidential attorney-client communication may be asked under oath (in a deposition, for example) what the client and attorney discussed and will have to answer.

Can an attorney give advice to an unrepresented spouse?

The attorney who drafted the agreement for his or her client cannot give the other , unrepresented spouse any legal advice or answer any of their questions about the documents offered other than to recommend if they have such questions they should get their own attorney.

How to prepare for divorce?

2. Prepare your Income and Expense Declaration. The Income and Expense Declaration is the other document included in the Declaration of Disclosure. The IED includes the party’s income, expenses, and must include recent pay stubs of the person filling out the form. 3. Prepare a list of questions you want to ask the divorce lawyer.

What is the most important document in a divorce in California?

The Schedule of Assets and Debts is one of the most important documents in any California divorce case. Every party in every divorce case in California has to complete this form before their dissolution of marriage will be granted by the court.

Why do you need an extra copy of a divorce decree?

Documents and evidence that might be important. Often times dissolution of marriage cases are filed because one or both spouses were not acting properly toward the other party or the children of the marriage.

What to bring to a family meeting?

As a reminder for yourself during your meeting, bring a bullet-point list of important facts about you, your family and children. This list will sort of act like a statistical analysis about your family. The list should include the date of marriage, children’s names and birthdays, and other like information.

How to contact divorce attorney in Irvine?

If you have an initial consultation with our divorce law office in Irvine, feel free to call us in advance at (949) 955-9155 and we will email the form to you. 8. Information about the other party.

What evidence is needed to file for a fault based divorce?

In that case, any evidence such as pictures, videos, messages, social media posts, and other supporting documents that will help prove your case are important.

What to do if a lawyer is not comfortable working your case?

Are they comfortable working your case? If they are not, you can move on to the next lawyer.

How to prepare yourself for a prenuptial agreement?

To best prepare yourself to discuss your situation, you should know information about income and bank account balances. Your attorney will want to find out of you have a prenuptial agreement. Also, do you or your spouse have premarital assets, and has anyone of you received an inheritance while you both married? The attorney will use the information you give, so they provide you with guidance. Depending on the specifics of your case, your attorney will tell you if you need a witness or witnesses.

How long do you have to bring pay stubs to divorce?

At least bring with you pay stubs worth three months.

What are alternative dispute resolutions?

Other forms of alternative dispute resolutions aside from traditional litigation are the collaborative divorce process, also known as arbitration and mediation. Experienced divorce attorneys will give you information on how long traditional litigation will take if pursued and court procedures involving the process.

What is initial consultation?

An initial consultation is for the purpose of gathering information and get legal advice about the circumstances of your situation. In the initial consultation, you are the one who will be doing most of the talking. Your potential divorce lawyer will be gathering information about the case from you and will ask you several questions so they can recommend solutions.

What are the documents that belong to you and your kids?

Passports and social security cards belonging to both you and your kids

What to ask a divorce lawyer?

What red flags did your story raise for them? What questions is the lawyer asking you about your situation? This question is your chance to 1) make sure they’ve been hearing you and 2) get insights that could help keep your divorce process moving along without surprises.

How many lawyers should I hire for divorce?

You get to choose who helps you through it. That’s why I highly recommend interviewing at least 2-3 attorneys before selecting one. Don’t let anyone pressure you into working with them, either. This process is going to get harder before it gets easier, so it’s important that the lawyer by your side – the lawyer who is going to be learning a lot about the inner workings of your marriage, your finances, and more – is someone that you trust, respect, and actually like.

Why is it important to have an open mind when getting divorced?

Before you pull into the attorney’s parking lot, repeat this mantra: No two divorces are alike! No two divorces are alike! Having an open mind about the hard things— possible custody schedules, whether or not you need to sell the house, whether or not your family can continue to go on two weeks of vacation each summer— will help your prospective attorney come up with a strategy that meets your long term goals and makes sense for your unique circumstances.

What is the goal of hiring an attorney?

For many women, the ‘goal’ of hiring an attorney may simply be “get me outta this marriage!” But honing in on what you want your life to look like after the divorce dust has settled can be a useful tool for identifying how you want to work through the process of ending your marriage.

How to get money from a prenup consultation?

If you want to get your money’s worth from a consultation, make sure you bring all of the documents associated with your prenup. The same goes if you and your spouse have started working out a separation agreement (or other agreement related to your pending split) in writing.

What does Christy do in a divorce?

For Christy, receiving this information allows her to give the most bang for a potential client’s buck in terms of an initial consultation. She can give a prospective client a pretty good idea of what will happen to each of those assets and liabilities in a divorce and help a potential client understand what their financial picture will look like post divorce.

How to cut down on lawyer fees?

You can cut down significantly on fees by forming a relationship with team members who bill at a lower hourly rate.