First meeting with lawyer - what to ask/expect

[dancelnow]

I'm meeting with a lawyer tomorrow to initiate a divorce. I expect, if H follows through on what he's currently saying, it to be amicable. We do have a son together, own a house, both work at relatively the same income and have joint fiances. I'm not sure what sort of questions I should be asking and how many attorneys I should interview (really don't want to interview a lot because this should be relatively simple).

[al320]

I dont post here a lot but thought id help out because we had pretty much the most amicable split ever. The laws vary greatly between states. We went through mediation, and went in with a plan. She did a financial review, wrote up an agreement. We had one lawyer formalize the agreement, another review it on the others behalf, then we filed (pro se, but i had a lawyer do the paper work).

If you are familiar enough with your rights and have an amicable split of everything and your state allows it, look into mediation to save $$

[Deleted]

I will be the downer here. Don't expect that it will be amicable. That's a dangerous assumption (okay I'm kind of negative) but essentially don't believe anything your stbx says and prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

To Bring to the meeting:
-three years of tax returns
-current credit card and bank statements (joint and individual)
-any contracts for property such as houses. cars, boats etc. or leases
-retirement account info for both parties

Find out from your lawyer:
-any implications of either of you leaving the martial property
-If you have kids, the best way to navigate that
-In Washington I was able to file for a separation ASAP. It didn't allow either of us to take anything from joint accounts or charge on any joint accounts. Any charges we made to individual accounts after this was our own debt to bear. Also any money made after was our own as well. I strongly suggest asking if something like this is available to you.

[alleinesein]

Mediation can save both of you money but it only works if you are in agreement and neither party wants to screw over the other person.

If you are in SoCal I can give you the name of an amazing Divorce Mediator.

Find out if you can have a paralegal do most of the paperwork for you; it will be cheaper than being hit with the attorney's hourly rate.

Set up a timeline based on your state's requirements. Some states require that you file for a legal separation before you file for divorce.

Ask about any fees associated with having the other party served and if there are any additional court fees involved. I had to pay a filing fee and if XH had wanted to file a response to my petition for divorce he would've been hit with a filing fee to file the response.

[glynn]

How much it will cost. What is the timeframe set by your state.

[jojoandleo]

It depends on your situation. You have kids, so you should ask about standard custody/child support for your state. Do you work? Is alimony a factor?

I'd also ask your attorney about how often s/he gets everything done in mediation versus going to court. Ask him/her the typical timeline for a divorce. His/her costs (does s/he charge hourly? Are there any changes in cost if you go to court versus settling versus mediation). Does s/he charge for mileage if s/he has to go to court, etc. If so, how much? What are the filing fess in your area? You may also ask him/her typical response times (to phone calls/emails) and which form of contact s/he prefers.