What to Expect when First Meeting with Your Divorce Attorney

In a divorce case there are four potential areas of controversy:

1. Custody, visitation and child support, when children under eighteen years of age are involved;
2. Distribution of Property and Debt;
3. Spousal support; and
4. Grounds for the divorce, which may affect the results in any of the first three areas.

Often times, husbands and wives can resolve these issues without expensive and messy divorce proceedings. In some cases the parties can resolve some of the issues in their case with agreements and end up litigating the remaining issues. When this is the case, it is less stressful and financially advantageous for the parties and their children.

It is usually quite uncomfortable for a client to begin discussions of the divorce proceedings with their attorney, especially if the client is the reluctant party in the divorce. However, it is important and necessary to disclose and discuss personal and intimate matters with your attorney in order for the attorney to be able to represent your interests.

One great thing about consulting with your attorney is that the communications are privileged. This means that your attorney cannot disclose anything you tell them to anybody else without your permission. This allows you to discuss your case openly and freely with your attorney without the worry that people will find out what you said. There are limitations on the attorney/client privilege that you need to discuss with your attorney.

When clients consult with an attorney for the first time, they often want the attorney to predict the outcome of the case. Unless the case is a simple case, such as a short marriage with little property or debt and no children, it is very difficult to predict the outcome of a case in advance. Rather than predicting the outcome of the case, your prospective attorney should let you know all of the possible outcomes of your case.

There are no magic formulas to determine the outcome of your case because each case is subjective and decided on its own facts by the judge. In simpler cases the attorney can evaluate the case after your first consultation, while more complex cases that usually involve disputed facts, multiple sources of property and/or business valuations, particularly those involving disputed facts and multiple sources of property, may require further investigation and research by the client and/or the attorney and research before the evaluation.

If you are a Massachusetts resident, you can contact me through my website or email me.

Law Office of Kara Fratto P.O. Box 205 Reading, Massachusetts 01867

Tel.: (781) 205-4234 Fax.: (781) 205-4840