I’ve met many people that are concerned that if they hire an attorney, they must enter into complex, difficult, expensive and lengthy litigation that will start off with accusing their spouse of every horrible thing imaginable. This cannot be farther from the truth.

A good divorce attorney can work to resolve your case quickly and without great expense to either you or your spouse.  Hopefully, this blog has made that rather clear which is its purpose.  As the client, you are the boss and you should be able to direct your divorce lawyer as to what you want him or her to do.  So, if you want your divorce lawyer to be a bull dog, he or she will do that.  If you want your lawyer to act as a type of mediator, he or she should do that as well.

The problem is when the lawyer doesn’t want to listen to you.  This is rather common. Thus, when selecting a good divorce lawyer, you need to make sure that the lawyer will work for you and not against you.  I tell my clients that right up front so they don’t have to ask.

Another big issue I run into with clients is their fear that they cannot afford an attorney because the other spouse has all of the money.  For the most part, everyone has access to the same pool of funds.  If your spouse refuses to provide money to you but you know that there are funds in a bank account that can be used to pay for an attorney and other expenses, an attorney can file a motion to have the court order the other spouse to provide the money. 

Normally, this order is subject to final allocation which means that you may have to pay that money back or have it credited to the spouse.  For example, if there is a savings account with $20,000 and a court ordered $5000 of that to be given to you as part of the divorce, you may only get another $5000 of the original $20,000 as part of the final settlement.  Of course, you could also get your original half, or $10,000 and your spouse is left with only $5000.  It all depends on the facts of the case and how you want to settle.  The important thing is that just because your spouse gave you the money now, does not mean that he or she will not get it back in some form.

A few days ago, a client told me about her concern that her husband would move out of the house and leave her with all of the bills if she filed for divorce.  She was very happy to hear that, in general, your spouse cannot abandon you and have you pay all of the bills.  Of course, every case is different and only a divorce attorney can explain how this would work in your situation.

Keep in mind that your spouse is free to move out at any time.  Whether or not you should move out should only be determined after speaking with a divorce attorney as you could really set yourself up for disaster.  Your spouse has a duty to maintain the status quo.  Thus, if your spouse paid for all or part of the bills, he or she cannot force you to pay them or refuse to pay them and have the house go into foreclosure, utilities be turned off, etc.  If your spouse did not contribute anything, it may be difficult to force him or her to start now, especially if they have no money.  Again, I am speaking in general terms so please see a lawyer before doing anything.

A letter fom a lawyer should get the job done.  However, if that fails or if there is an emergency, your lawyer will file a motion with the court.