Divorce trial attorney

Although some people prefer to represent themselves in court, you are asking for trouble by trying to be penny-wise and pound-foolish.

An experienced divorce attorney with many years of trial experience is pretty much the route you should take to give you the best chance of having issues ruled in your favor. In this way, you can protect your rights and create a forum for a fair negotiation between you and your spouse.

This is especially critical where one spouse has dominated the other, or physical violence or domestic abuse has been present in a marriage.

In all cases, if your spouse hires an attorney, you should do the same. You must be able to battle on a level playing field. The other thing an attorney can do for you is to take the emotional component out of your divorce.

They will be able to approach issues from a legal point of view, whereas you may be much less rational. An attorney can also carry the stress and strain of divorce for you, giving you the added confidence of the best possible outcome.

Attorneys are not cheap. Sometimes, volunteer legal staff who can point you to the right paperwork, review settlement agreements, and even assist in filling out paperwork. You may only receive partial help due to limited resources, but at least you will be protected to some degree. Some states require attorneys to provide a specific number of pro bono hours per year.

The best way to find a pro bono or low-cost attorney is to contact your state bar association and ask for referrals. The exact procedure will vary from case to case, depending on what the issues are that need to be litigated. But some actions are common to all divorce pretrial proceedings.

Most of the time, you and your attorney will need to accomplish the following before you go to trial. Preparation of financial affidavits. A judge will want to know what your financial position is just before you go to trial.

An exchange of disclosures. All evidence must be shared with the other side prior to a trial so that each can thoroughly prepare without surprises before the court date. A pretrial conference held by the judge will set a date for discovery cutoff, and both sides are expected to adhere to this date. Anything received after that date will not be admitted into evidence. Review of the pleadings. This needs to be done to see if anything needs to be amended and to make sure that everything has been requested.

Sometimes things change during the case, and something that may not have been appropriate to ask for the beginning of the case may become relevant at the end.

Completion of trial depositions. In almost all cases, each spouse will be interviewed by the opposing attorney in the presence of a court reporter. This can reveal information and strategies that might be used during an actual trial as well as getting a spouse on an official record. It is a fact-finding activity that often includes several open-ended questions designed to get a spouse to open up about certain issues. Depositions tend to be much broader than at a trial where questions will tend to be narrowly focused and close-ended.

Exhibit management. You and your attorney will decide which evidence needs to be presented and in what order to make your best case in front of a judge.

Client preparation. A trial is stressful and nerve-racking. The best way to reduce the amount of stress and to make your best case is to rehearse your answers, know the points you want to make, and know what issues you want to downplay or minimize. As a witness, expect to participate in mock rehearsals and a final rehearsal leading up to the actual trial. Divorce trials are not cheap. Many can cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

As part of the trial preparation, you will need to discuss a fee structure and anticipated costs with your attorney. You need to weigh the costs of the trial versus the anticipated overall settlement you might receive as a result. Sometimes, it just flat out more conducive to settle than go through the expense and the stress of a trial.

A pretrial conference. When an impasse has been reached, and a trial is imminent, you and your attorney will need to attend a pretrial conference. These are usually very short, and your attorney will do all the talking.

At the same time, we are following best practices to protect the health of our employees and our clients. To protect our employees and our clients we are encouraging meetings by phone, FaceTime, Skype or similar means.

We are also working with the divorce and civil courts, as well as opposing counsel, to arrange court appearances, settlement conferences, and other litigation events remotely whenever possible. Your phone calls will be returned. Your emails will be answered. Your case deadlines will be met. The days ahead may be a challenge.

We will simply manage your case in less traditional, more technology-driven ways, that are safer for your health and ours. Please stay healthy and contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding your case or a new matter for us to consider.

A divorce trial can be the result of a contested divorce or failed mediation or settlement talks. Preparing for a trial can seem daunting and overwhelming. There can be a lot involved in the process and a lot riding on the outcome of the case. Securing a skilled and experienced attorney is the best way to help relieve some of your burdens and ensure that there is someone completely invested in protecting your rights and securing a positive outcome for your situation.

Call us at to schedule a case evaluation today. It is not always filled with fiery and dramatic performances. A trial is a technical and precise process. In many situations, the progression of a divorce trial is as follows:. Getting to trial is half the battle. If a divorce case is heading for the courtroom, it can take time to schedule a trial date.

The length of time required to schedule a court date depends on the region where the trial is to be held. This may take weeks, or even months, in some jurisdictions. While the process may seem long, the key is to be patient and trust your attorney to use the time to prepare the strongest case possible.

The overwhelming majority of divorce cases in North Carolina will be heard and determined by a judge. The use of juries in North Carolina is very rare. In fact, only two states, Georgia and Texas, allow juries to be used to hear and resolve key aspects of a divorce proceeding.

North Carolina does not allow the use of juries to determine major issues such as child custody, visitation, child support, or the equitable division of property. In some situations, a jury trial may be allowed if there is an allegation of marital misconduct.

In this situation, a jury would be allowed to hear all the evidence and determine if a spouse is at-fault for some form of marital misconduct, which would result in the allocation of alimony to the other spouse. However, a jury is only allowed to determine fault they are not allowed to determine the amount of alimony to be paid or the length of time that payments must be made. The opening statements give each party the opportunity to address the court.

Child custody decisions under no-fault laws often bring unexpected results. Under the old law, judges usually assumed that mothers are better at child care than fathers. Under no-fault, however, there are no such sex-based presumptions, although gender bias still exists. The law presumes each parent can care for the children without evidence to the contrary.

The judge therefore may rely upon recommendations of a court-appointed expert giving an impartial appraisal of custody matters. This expert will look for the most stable environment for the child. Tax considerations. Awards of cash to even up property distributions or to supplement spouse or child support obligations can have significant tax effects on each spouse.

Watch out — this is a time bomb! The paying spouse will want the payments characterized as spouse support, while the spouse receiving support will want to do the opposite. Support payments deductible by the paying spouse are usually taxable income to the receiving spouse.

Each spouse should check with tax advisors and attorneys so all payments are allocated fairly before the judge signs the judgment. With entry of the judgment, the last phase of the legal process is compliance with its terms and conditions. Like the dissolution of a business relationship, this is called winding up. It is a time for the attorneys to oversee property distributions and make the spouses legally independent. The attorneys work to transfer real estate and personal property and to change bank accounts and insurance policies in accordance with the judgment.

Debts on mortgages, personal loans, and lines of credit or credit cards are paid off or accounted for. The attorneys get releases of the spouse not required to pay each debt if possible.

The attorneys or the court only become involved again if one spouse refuses to abide by the judgment. If so, various enforcement measures may be necessary.

Usually the judge reserves the right to issue further court orders to force compliance through the seizing of property or income of the uncooperative spouse, fines, or imprisonment. Obviously, if a spouse is not abiding by any court order, contact your attorney immediately to arrange for the judge to apply the proper enforcement measure. I live in AZ. After the trial, judge took case under advisement. I have the same issue. It has been over days since the trial ended AND both Lawyers submitted their written arguments.

Literally everything done and just waiting for the divorce master to rule. How long could this go on? This is PA. The judge issued only a decision after our final hearing. Now there is a presentation hearing, what is that for?

Related Content. Add A Comment Cancel reply. Comments I live in AZ. Follow Us on Social Media. You will need to provide documentation for every aspect of your financial life when preparing for the dissolution of your marriage.

Arizona is a community property state, meaning that because of Arizona divorce laws , property division and debt division will be equitably divided between the separating spouses. The court will have to decide what is community property and what is separate property before determining the value of both and then dividing up the property and debt. Your attorney can teach you how to protect your inheritance from your spouse , too.

Your attorney can help you find the experts you need to calculate the value of your marital assets, enlisting the aid of financial experts and appraisers.

Without the assistance of a neutral third party, you may not get the benefit of the full value of your property. Dividing up property can be very difficult; one common example is where one of the individuals wants to continue to live in the marital home, and the value of the property must still be split fairly. Most people become so focused on the divorce that they forget to meet their own physical and emotional needs.

Make time to meet your friends and be honest, and use self-help resources if you need to. Even abuse may be hidden, and it is often only when your relationship ends that you face the truth.

Your divorce may be the single most significant event that happens in your adult life, besides natural events like births and deaths.