Tips to Lessen the Financial Burden of Divorce, Custody, and Support Litigation

Many family law clients have to maintain a difficult balancing act: they have genuine concerns and needs which they want to pursue through divorce, custody, and support litigation, but they also have many other financial obligations to fulfill. Protracted or complex litigation can become costly for many clients. Depending on a client’s individual circumstances, we will often give them some of the following simple tips to lessen the financial burden of ongoing litigation:

1. Make a list: If you have a meeting or phone call with your attorney, it often helps to prepare a bullet point list of questions and topics you would like to discuss ahead of time. This can help you to maximize every meeting with your attorney, and it can decrease the duration of your meeting or the number of meetings you ultimately need to have.
2. Stay focused: In your communications with our office, it helps if you stay focused on the topic we are discussing. We understand that divorce, custody, and support matters can raise a lot of complicated emotions, and we are happy to talk to you about any aspect of your case, but our conversations tend to be shorter (and therefore, less costly) if they are focused on a particular topic or goal.
3. Stay organized: It’s a good idea to keep a file, or maintain an online record, with the letters, orders, pleadings, and other documentation involved in your case, so that you can refer back to it as your case progresses, and you can use it to prepare for meetings with us and for upcoming hearings. Additionally, it’s advisable to keep either a paper calendar or planner, or a digital one, to note any upcoming appointments or court hearings, and to set reminders for yourself if there is anything that you need to prepare for future appointments or court hearings.
4. Be a detective: Typically, we will ask you to provide us with various documents for your case, including financial statements, photos, screenshots of text message conversations, and many other types of documents. We will also ask you for important information about others involved in your case, such as full names, dates of birth, phone numbers, and criminal histories. While we are happy to help you dig for this information and to request documents for you, that takes time and will increase your costs. If you are able to find requested documents and information on your own, that can be an easy way to help you keep costs down.

If you are interested in discussing your unique family law matter with one of our attorneys, contact Tanner Law Offices at (717) 731-8114 to schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys.