How Can I Reduce My Legal Fees in a Florida Divorce?
If you are thinking about ending your marriage, you may feel reluctant to start the process because you may think it is too expensive. It is true that divorce can be a costly process, especially if you are ordered to pay alimony or child support at some point and you do not agree.
Even when you do not have to deal with these issues, you will still have to pay certain legal fees and they will add to the cost of your case. Although you should always work with a Tampa divorce attorney, it is possible to protect your rights and still reduce the cost.
Do Not Contact Your Lawyer Unnecessarily
Not all divorce lawyers are created equally. It is important to choose someone whom you know will contact you whenever the status of your case changes. Unless you have an urgent situation, you should not call your attorney simply to get an update on your divorce.
Your lawyer will notify you if your spouse has submitted a response or if there is a court hearing you must attend. Most lawyers will bill clients for every email and phone call, so keep communication to a minimum and only contact your attorney when absolutely necessary.
It is also recommended that you write your questions down any time you think of one and submit them all at one time. This will make sure that you get the answers you need, but you can also reduce your legal costs by asking them all at once.
Submit Documents as Soon as Possible
Your lawyer will require many different types of documents from you. These may include tax returns, bank statements, life insurance policies, and others. You should collect these documents as soon as your lawyer asks for them and forward them to your attorney as requested.
Your lawyer will charge more if they have to hunt these documents down themselves, or if they have to regularly contact you in order to receive them.
Open Your Mind to Mediation
By far the most expensive way to get a divorce is to litigate your case, or go to court. Fortunately, only a small percentage of divorce cases have to go through court. Mediation is a process that is mandatory for divorcing couples in some counties in Florida, including Hillsborough.
During mediation, you and your spouse and your attorneys will meet with a third party mediator, who is a neutral third party who will help foster compromise and communication. You can meet together at least initially and then you can move to separate rooms, if you mediate in person. Although now most mediation is done via Zoom.
It is important to enter mediation with an open mind, as this is the only way it can be successful. If you only focus on winning, mediation will not be successful and could only add to the overall cost of your divorce. Usually no one is completely happy with the agreement.
Our Tampa Divorce Attorneys Help Lower the Cost
At All Family Law Group, P.A., our Tampa divorce attorneys offer consultations at no charge so we can review the facts of your case with you at no cost, which can help you reduce the overall expense of your divorce and help you determine whether we would be a good fit to represent you in your case. Furthermore, it is our goal, if at all possible, to resolve your case amicably and thus reducing substantially the cost of a divorce.
Call us today at 813-672-1900 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation of your case and to get the legal advice you need. Se habla Español.
Sources:
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/0061.html
leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0044/0044.html
