When you fail to end things smoothly with your partner, a court battle is the only option left. And, you very well know you can’t fight a legal battle without an eloquent and shrewd lawyer by your side. But beware! Your divorce attorney isn’t going to be a lamb. These are the things he might try and hide from you on purpose.
An attorney’s fee is often negotiable
Common people do not have legal wrangles to deal with and hence, they don’t get to see a lawyer every so often. For a lot of people, it’s their first-time at a law firm and that’s the reason they have no idea how things work. A courtroom, a wig-wearing judge and two very aggressive lawyers standing eyeball to eyeball with each other — this appears to be a scene from some random movie to most of us. Doesn’t it?
Even if you are visiting a divorce lawyer for the first time in your lifetime, you should know that his fees can be negotiated. If you give him/her all the reasons he needs to hear, he/she can scale down on the amount he/she demanded in the first place. It’s all up to your bargaining skills and how you put them into practice.
There’s an equal chance of losing
Your lawyer will try and fill you with an unjustifiable amount of enthusiasm if it’s a contested divorce. Also, it is important for the petitioner to have a confident body language in front of the judge. A seemingly confident person always gets an edge in the case. So, he would try to make you see a future with victory and nothing else but, you should remain aware that tables can turn at any moment. Your lawyer will obviously make sure there are no doubts in your head and in an attempt to achieve that, he can go an extra mile.
You can replace your current attorney with a new one
One of things you are never going to hear from your lawyer is that you can switch him with anyone else at any point during the case. If you at any point start feeling that your case is not heading in the right direction, you can make a decision on your own. If you feel that the current lawyer is not up your alley and that he is not good enough to bag you victory, you can have him replaced with a better one. There’s no section of law stopping you from that.
You should remain single until you are over and done with the divorce
This is a very important thing that some divorce lawyers forget to mention to their client. Since it is a contested divorce, you should not expect things to go fair and square. You never know what allegations you might have to face in the courtroom. The opponent party might come up with false allegations to get an edge over you, and not to forget, those false allegations can be substantiated too. Even if you started seeing someone after separation, you could be accused of adultery, they could make a scapegoat out of you.
A non-legal custodial agreement is possible
Divorces get even more complicated when children are involved. It is not easy to convince children to accept two different households instead of one. Beside the personal trauma, battle for legal custody is a thing that eats into you. To your surprise, you can sign a contract for your children’s custody and support outside of the court. A legal interference is not obligatory, instead you can bring in a few trustworthy people to look after the agreement once it’s signed by both the parties. Legal battles come at a very high cost, after all, who wouldn’t want to avoid them?
An option to resolve disagreements outside court is always on cards
There’s always an option to close the case if it doesn’t benefit you and your ex anymore. No matter what number of hearings you have already had, you can shut the case in the middle if you and your ex are on the same page. This is something you are most unlikely to hear from your divorce attorney. He knows how much money he can extract from a prolonged contested divorce and therefore he would never want you to settle matters outside the court with personal help/mediation. So, choose a family lawyer Fairfax VA who gives you the best advice.
