2 Ways That a Divorce Attorney Can Assist You

Posted on: 10 May 2016

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A divorce attorney is a very versatile and useful professional, as he or she is able to assist you both during and after your divorce proceeding. Listed below are two of the most important ways in which a divorce attorney can assist you.

1. They Provide Mediation Services

One of the hardest parts about a divorce proceeding is that it can take multiple court days over the course of several months for an adversarial proceeding to conclude. However, if you are on at least somewhat cordial terms with your spouse, then a lawyer can offer mediation services to make the process much easier. The mediation process will require that you, your spouse, your attorney, and your spouse's attorney meet in order to break down the terms for the divorce. 

This proceeding is designed to handle every aspect of the divorce without having to involve a judge until the mediation agreement is completed and signed by all parties. The mediation agreement will list out exactly how all of the assets will be divided between yourself and your spouse, who will pay spousal and child support, the amount of those support payments, and custody or visitation agreements for any children. Once all of that has been agreed upon by all parties, the agreement will be sent to a judge for approval.

The primary benefit to this approach is that it can be completed in a fraction of the time of a standard divorce proceeding, especially if the judge approves the agreement quickly. In addition, this approach leads to the least amount of conflict, which can be very important if you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse have any children.

2. They Provide Assistance with Enforcing Divorce Terms

Unfortunately, one of the biggest issues that many people have following a divorce is to get their ex-spouses to actually follow the agreed-upon divorce terms. Thankfully, an attorney can help you enforce these terms in several ways, such as by requesting that a judge implements wage garnishment if your spouse is refusing to make his or her support payments.

If the issue is that your spouse has been hiding assets so that he or she did not have to share them with you when the divorce occurred, your attorney can speak to a judge to ensure that you get your fair share of those assets. For example, if the assets that were hidden were physical property, such as real estate or vehicles, the attorney can petition a judge to order that the items be sold and the proceeds split with you. In some cases, the judge may give you a larger share of the proceeds as a penalty for your ex-spouse hiding the assets in the first place.

Contact a divorce attorney today from a firm like Gomez May LLP in order to discuss how he or she may be able to assist you with your particular situation. An attorney can make it easier to deal with the divorce process and beyond by providing assistance with enforcing the divorce agreements and mediation services.