Divorce
Ending a marriage without losing the rest of the year
A divorce asks you to make a dozen large decisions while you're tired and worried. My job is to put them in order, one at a time, and to tell you plainly what each choice will cost and what it will get you.
Some divorces are agreed before anyone calls me, and need careful paperwork and someone to check the numbers. Others start with a summons on the kitchen table. Either way, the first meeting ends with a written list of what has to be decided, what can wait, and what I'd do first.
I take
Agreed divorces and contested ones
Short marriages and long ones
Cases where a spouse has a lawyer and you don't yet
What gets decided
The questions every divorce has to answer
The family home
Who stays, who sells, and how the mortgage and the equity are divided.
Pensions and savings
Pensions, 401(k)s and accounts, including the orders that divide them without a tax bill.
What's owed
Cards, car loans and medical bills, and who is responsible for each after the decree.
Spousal maintenance
Whether either of you pays the other for a time, how much, and for how long.
Where the children live
A parenting plan, which has its own page, because it deserves one.
The final decree
The signed order that ends the marriage and says who keeps what.
Asked in most first meetings
Do I have to prove someone was at fault?
No. You only need to say the marriage can't be saved. Fault rarely changes how property is divided, and arguing about it mostly adds cost.
Should I move out of the house?
Not before we talk. Leaving can affect the parenting schedule and who keeps the house, so it's a decision to make on purpose, not in a hurry.
How long will it take?
There's a waiting period set by law before a divorce can be final, and an agreed case often finishes soon after it. A contested one can take most of a year. I'll give you my honest estimate after the first meeting.
Can we use one lawyer between us?
I can represent only one of you. If you've already agreed on everything, I can draft the papers for my client and the other spouse is free to have them reviewed by their own lawyer.