What to look for, or avoid, in a divorce attorney

Artereis

I checked in with my ex the other day to see if she had made any progress on filing, and the response basically amounted to no. Frankly, I'm getting tired of waiting for her to do what she said she would. Any tips on what to look for in a good attorney? I don't anticipate this divorce to be terribly complicated. Our assets have been split for going on 7 months now, so I'm hoping we can just do a notarized document saying that we're content with that. Anyone have a rough idea of how much I should expect to be paying outside of the court fees? I've never had to work with a lawyer before.

Nija

You're in California, correct? I am currently going through a divorce using a paralegal from the area. We have no kids and no property, so it's relatively minor on the asset scale. She is charging us (me, tbh) $395, not including the filing fee from the court which was... $435 ( I don't have my checkbook on hand). Our divorce is fairly amicable, so we did not have to pay for the service (my wife accept service via certified mail) of documents.

A lawyer is going to cost you a lot more. Before the paralegal, I was informally referred to this firm in Redondo Beach by a Partner at my Insurance Defense firm.

Artereis

Yours sounds very similar to mine, actually. I wasn't aware that the documents could be accepted via certified mail. That's definitely useful. Thanks

Rend

Also check and see if you're eligible for Summary Dissolution which is easy-mode divorce.

Artereis

We've been married a bit too long for that, unfortunately. I looked into that very early on.

Nija

Artereis wrote: »

Yours sounds very similar to mine, actually. I wasn't aware that the documents could be accepted via certified mail. That's definitely useful. Thanks

It's not the most foolproof way. A Process Server is the best way (you can technically use a friend, but I wouldn't want to put a friend in that position), but there are costs that come with that.

I

Artereis

I forwarded that info to my ex to give her one more chance to actually keep her word, and she acted on it. The lady already sent her an engagement letter, so this might finally all be over soon. I don't know what her actual holdup was.