You may experience many emotions upon meeting with a divorce attorney. Fear, anger, hurt, anxiety or even depression, are feelings which can prevent you from thinking clearly. At Sherer Law, we understand you may be trying to deal with conflict at home, losing sleep, or struggling with other deep concerns for a variety of reasons. We?re here to help you and will do our best to simplify the process for you.? To get started, we?ve put together a list of things to consider when scheduling your first meeting.
1) Do Not Bring Your Children
In order to make the best use of time with your attorney, it is best to leave your children with someone else during your meeting. ?The discussion of divorce can be tense enough without having to worry about young ones sitting still.? Even if your children are well-behaved, please consider the emotional repercussions of bringing them while you’re speaking of you and your spouse?s split. An attorney also needs to know personal details that may not be appropriate for children to hear.
2) Feel Free to Bring Support
Bringing a supportive friend or family member is a great idea. If you are feeling very emotional and vulnerable, the support of someone who cares about your wellbeing can be very helpful.? It may also be beneficial to have a second set of ears during the meeting to help you remember and understand all the details that will be covered.
3) Bring a List of Questions
You will inevitably have many questions about your divorce.? It is best to write down questions and concerns as you think of them before the meeting so that everything can be covered. An attorney will explain how the divorce process will work for your specific situation. The conversation may answer many of your initial questions and present new ones. Allow your attorney to walk you through the process and then use your list of questions at the end of the meeting to discuss anything that may not have already been covered.
4) Bring Legal Documents
Typically clients leave their first meeting with homework to learn about their marital finances, assets, liabilities and ongoing expenses. In order to divide assets, an inventory of all property, the value of each asset, a list of creditors, and the amount of each debt due are all needed. Ideally, you should come to your first meeting with as much detail on these financial matters as you can gather so that the first meeting can be as productive as possible.?
?Don’t wait until the last minute. Coming prepared for your first meeting will save you hundreds of dollars
and make both your life and your attorney’s job much easier.
