Going through a divorce is a complicated affair, and the only who can help you to ease it and get it done correctly is a skilled solicitor. So, when you are searching for an excellent barrister to handle your divorce, remember that you need to be very careful and informative to make the right selection. Choosing a good lawyer to guide you through the complicated process of divorce is one of the crucial divorce-related decisions you have to make.
Even on getting a referral from your friends or family about a solicitor specializing in divorce, you need to do your homework and check their qualifications, enrolment, experience and makes sure that they process enough expertise to handle your case.
Choosing a solicitor
There are many lawyers out there, and a majority of them do advertisement themselves as the ‘best’ divorce or family law solicitors. However, you must know that family law is a complicated legal specialty which involves a lot of principles and variables, which takes a lot of time and experience for someone to master. Within the family law itself, there are many subspecialties too as custody law, guardianship, international custody, and special orders may also be required to divide certain types of assets and benefits.
Most importantly, a solicitor also needs to handle various financial aspects too involved in a divorce to get it done in your favor as:
- Financial disclosures between spouses
- Getting orders to prohibiting the spouses from changing designations or beneficiaries and transferring assets during the period of divorce.
- Alimony and calculating the income for maintenance and other particular factors judiciary considers for payment settlements.
- Child care and support.
- Balanced division of assets and property, including real estate, collectible items, deposit interests, stocks, portfolios, and business revenue.
- Dividing retirement benefits etc.
- Questions to ask
Considering all these, here we have provided ten questions which you can ask the Divorce Solicitors Perth you think as your family law barrister. The answer to these questions may better help you to identify whether the lawyer is right for you.
- Do you specialize in family and divorces or whether divorces are just a part of the practice?
- How long had you been practicing family law and handling divorce cases?
- How many family lawsuits you have handled?
- What is your case strategy/approach in my case and how long it will take to get it resolved?
- How can I get hold of you in case of an emergency and what do you consider as an emergency?
- Is there anyone else in the office to assist in my case and if so, what is their experience?
- How do you charge for my case, is it hour rate or a lump sum payment?
- Are there any additional charges involved as the time spend by other lawyers, paralegals, or legal secretaries? Are there any other hidden charges?
- What will be the estimated total cost for divorce?
- Will you let me negotiate directly with the other party if the need arises? Are they any ways through which I can cut down the amount you charge?
Don’t be alarmed as many of the divorce attorneys may be reluctant to answer this question as the divorce cost may vary based on the conflict involved in the case. However, the way they answer the question will give you an opportunity to assess their skilfulness and approach.
Going a step ahead, you can also ask them what their opinion or prediction of a judgment in your case to understand better how they approach it is. If you can meet a few good solicitors through references to interview, you can quickly identify who is the best out of the lot to take up your case.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
