Are you thinking about filing for divorce? Has your spouse already filed for divorce and you're at a loss as to what you should do now? Divorce can be a confusing time for anyone, whether you're properly prepared or not. In order to make things slightly less confusing for you, you may already be considering hiring a lawyer to help you with your case. But before you simply hire the first one you can find, here are some questions you should ask to make sure that he or she will be the best one for you:
Are you already working for my spouse? Chances are good that if you want a divorce attorney, so does your spouse. Legally, a lawyer can't represent you both in court. However, an attorney can't automatically know who your spouse is, unless you tell them. Before setting up an in-person consultation, make sure that your soon-to-be-ex spouse hasn't already hired them. Doing this will allow you to avoid wasting both your time and the attorney's.
How familiar are you with custody cases? If you and your spouse have children, you'll obviously need to discuss custody arrangements in court. But not every divorce attorney is familiar enough with custody cases to help you with every nuance you might encounter. Some attorneys may be most familiar with simple divorces or divorces involving large sums of money. While a lawyer isn't able to share case details with you, he or she should be able to give you a broad idea of the types of cases that he or she has handled before and whether or not the outcome was favorable to his or her client.
How can I contact you in an emergency? Divorces can make some people go crazy. Even if your divorce starts out amicably, your spouse could decide to do something strange or untoward as the divorce progresses. He or she might discover some of your belongings in the back of his or her closet, making him or her unreasonably angry for no particular reason. He or she could then wind up knocking on your door at 3am, insisting that you open up so that the two of you can talk. While a call to the police may be in order, you may also want to be able to quickly contact your divorce attorney so that they can help you sort out the situation and talk to the police for you.
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