The New Economics of Divorce - No Home Equity
It is no secret that we are seeing a peculiar time in US history. Home ownership has traditionally been one of the most significant wealth builders for the majority of families. When it came time to send kids to college, home equity was often a cushion which would be tapped to make this dream possible. If you needed a new car, a home equity loan could help you find the cash to make it happen. One less obvious use of home equity is it enabled couples to have something to split up and yes, pay for a divorce. It seems that falling real estate prices are having impacts on all sorts of American past times. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/comments?type=story&id=4705137
At its peak, you were 40 - 50% likely to get divorced. That rate had grown rapidly over the past twenty years and even further back. I read one estimate of divorce rates which calculated you were 2 and a half times more likely to get divorced than you were just 20 years ago. As the real estate markets and stock markets continue to soften, it will be interesting to see if divorce rates go down as well. If however divorce is ingrained in American society, then it might be time for quarrelling spouses to demand more efficiency from their divorce or family law lawyers. Examples of being more efficient include requesting flat fees from your lawyer so you have certainty on the costs you will face. For many items such as support hearings, custody hearings or very simple divorces, there is no reason why you can’t ask for a flat fee. It is also a good way to determine if your attorney is truly experienced in this area of law. If a lawyer doesn’t know what pitfalls a case can encounter, it is very unlikely they will agree to a flat fee. However, if they know the area of law, they can at least explain why a flat fee won’t work for your engagement. Some other strategies we use at 1-2-3 Law Group is to provide as much free information as possible online. One example of a podcast on divorce is here.
Another example we utilize is to encourage online communication through our case management system. This cuts down on missing work, gas expenses and parking for the client and lets the lawyer manage their day better. These strategies can all add up to significant cost savings over the course of your divorce, custody or support matter as travel time and attorney communication time is reduced.
Tips you can implement on your own to reduce costs are to have your financial house in order. Don’t pay professionals to do inventories of what you have. Come prepared when you meet with your attorney. If possible, reach agreement with your spouse on economic issues then run them by your attorney to see if your arrangement is fair from their perspective.
Lastly, do not look to your attorney for a shoulder to lean on. If you are working on an hourly basis, this can get very expensive. If you have a flat fee arrangement, your attorney will likely not appreciate having to spend more time than is necessary on your case. However, the grieving process does require an outlet so your friends and therapists are the best bet as opposed to keeping feelings bottled in.
One final tip is if you can, attempt to work things out and stay together. That may be your best economical decision since you won’t have to fund two separate households and split up a shrinking economic pie.
The Making Law Easy Show Episode 25 - Key Tips When Preparing For Divorce
Episode 25 – Making Law Easy Show – Key Tips When Preparing for a Divorce Hello everyone. Welcome again to another edition to the Making Law Easy Show. Today we’re talking about key tips when preparing or encountering a divorce. And I’m pleased to have with us an attorney who has handled quite a few divorce cases over the last 5 or 10 years. Steve thanks for joining us. Steve helps us with divorce cases at 1-2-3 Law Group. Glad to have you on the show Steve. Nice to be here Karl. Thanks for getting in contact with me. OK. Why don’t we start right off. How do you get started with a divorce process. Well of course the first step is the clients, and that they have to decide that that is the thing that they want to do next is get a divorce and I recognize of course that that is a very difficult decision for them to make. That’s a personal decision. But of course the next step would be contacting an attorney and sitting down with that attorney and reviewing the situation. Reviewing the different aspects that may be particular to that case, that individual client’s case, and reviewing what that client might expect as far as a result. Then on the other end, I mean that’s when you’re starting off planning. I mean there’s always two sides to a story. And on the flip side, what do you do if you are served with divorce papers. Well if you’re served with divorce papers Read Entire Manuscript
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The Making Law Easy Show Episode:10 Top 5 Things About Child Support
Listen to 1-2-3 Law Groups Karl Schieneman discuss the top 5 issues to understand about child support. Taped live on December 20th, 2007 at 5PM.