An Overview Of Standard Divorce Attorney Services

When you engage a divorce lawyer there are certain services that you may require him provide for you. It is good to have an overview of standard divorce attorney services so you know what which ones you can ask about when you consult with him. The services an attorney renders are based on the divorce process itself.

Filing the Original Petition for Divorce

After the appropriate meetings and consultations have taken place, the first service your divorce lawyer will do is to file the original petition for divorce with the local court clerk. The document requests that the court grants the petitioner a divorce and lists any relief the petitioner feels is due him or her. The petition names the parties to the divorce and any children they may have. It will also state the reason why the divorce is being sought.

The original petition is served on the respondent who will have thirty days to hire his or her own attorney and answer the petition for divorce. Depending on how well received the petition is, this is the time when requests for restraining orders, protective orders and temporary orders are requested for. The requests for these orders are part of standard divorce attorney services.

The temporary orders will contain what the respondent is being obliged to do in the matter of child support, spousal support, and child custody until the final divorce hearing. After the divorce is finalized, these may change but until that happens, the orders are legally binding.

It is the duty of a divorce attorney to keep his client updated about the progress of the petition for divorce and the other orders that you may have asked him to request for on your behalf.

The Role of the Attorney in Divorce Discovery

After the petition for divorce has been filed, your lawyer helps you gather information about the other party to the divorce. This phase is referred to as “discovery” and it is a legal mechanism comprised of five steps: disclosure, interrogatories, admissions of fact, request for production and depositions.

• Disclosures are requests for certain items from the other party. The list of these items is sent to the opposing side who must respond in thirty days. The attorney makes the request and is obliged to keep his client updated about its progress.

• Interrogatories are a list of questions that attorneys send to the opposing side.

• Admissions of Fact are a written list of facts sent to the opposing party who must either admit or deny the facts listed.

• Request for Production is a legal mechanism your lawyer uses on your behalf to obtain bank statements, statements of income and her similar documents. This is where most divorces begin to drag because it often happens that one or both parties are reluctant to comply with this request.

• During depositions, your lawyer takes sworn statements from witnesses and from the opposing party. These can be used in court should the divorce go to trial.

The Role of the Attorney in Divorce Mediation

During divorce, mediation parties and their attorneys try to come to an agreement to meet the needs of both in the presence of a court appointed mediator. Both sides come to the table armed with information gathered through the preceding five-step process of discovery. If the parties come to an agreement and settle, their case does not go to trial.

The Role of the Attorney in Divorce Court and After

If the parties do not came to an agreement, the parties go to court and a trial date is set. It is the duty of the divorce lawyer to be prepared for trial and to prepare his client as well. Readiness in this case refers not only to documents but to proper courtroom behavior. The judge decides on what settlements to grant, how property will be divided, what child support and spousal maintenance are to be paid, and other issues in relation to the dissolution of the marriage.

A divorce attorney may be called upon to file a motion to appeal any court order. This is filed with the same judge who gave the order. If the judge does not set aside the order (which came from him in the first place), the lawyer files a petition with the state appellate court.

The lawyer’s leadership and participation in all these processes are part of what is known as standard divorce attorney services. All of these processes entail meetings, calls and emails plus hours of drafting petitions. As far as divorce cases are concerned, lawyers earn every penny of their fee.