As always, none of my blog posts are a substitution for hiring an attorney. The information and opinions are my own, and if you are interested in legal representation, please seek an attorney. If you are in Illinois and need assistance or representation in your divorce, submit your information on the contact form on my homepage. Thank You!
Now let's get started!
Not only does a party often time have to worry about a spiteful and hurt spouse, they also have to worry about protecting their assets, figuring out parenting time, child support, reporting abuse and finding out the best interest of the child, schooling arrangements, vacations, splitting assets, and the list goes on. Divorces are hard, they are stressful, they are sad and they hurt everyone involved typically.
Not to mention the costs of hiring representation, and the associated fees.
I frequently hear how expensive it is to get divorced, hire an attorney ect. The average divorce can cost anywhere from $5000.00 to 30k+ depending on your situation. Sometimes, it can actually cost significantly more than that. No wonder people dread the idea of marriage, the idea of divorce is a nightmare.
However, there is a cheaper option for those who are looking for help in just one aspect of their case. In attorney land, it is called limited scope representation. It is just as it sounds, basically an attorney can break you case down into pieces, and you and your attorney can agree to simply allow the attorney to represent you on part of the case. The attorney can put documents together, get the divorce process started, just work on your child custody part of your case, the attorney can just go on court for you on your behalf if it makes you nervous, put together an agreement for the division of your assets, or the attorney can take a lesser but extremely impactful role and just coach you through the process of your divorce.
Limited scope representation can be extremely helpful, but not all attorneys will see this as something worth their time. It is simply more lucrative for an attorney to take on your entire case, and frankly it can often just be better for a client to retain full representation of an attorney, so that way the client can be confident that all the responsibility will lay in the hand of their lawyer. However, for those not fortunate enough to afford full representation on their case, retaining an attorney for a limited scope service can also be a lifesaver.
For instance: Having an attorney work on your divorce petition is often hailed as a great to to decrease the chances of your petition being dismissed for failure to include all the required information the court would be looking for. Having an attorney put together your marriage settlement agreement and just handle that could help you get a fairer shake towards getting the assets from the marriage that you deserve. Having an attorney coach you through the process can make you feel a lot more confident about going at your case alone, which can help you in so many ways.
So before you run out and say "A lawyer is too expensive", ask your attorney if they provide limited scope representation.