click here to return to faq divorce HOW WILL WE HANDLE YOUR UNCONTESTED DIVORCE CASE?
(Please scroll down this page to go to the contested divorce section.)
Generally in an uncontested divorce case our client would bring the completed questionnaire to the office or mail, fax or
email the questionnaire to us. My associate or myself would have a consultation with the client in person at our Huntsville or
Florence office or by phone. During this consultation the applicable laws concerning divorce in Alabama would be
explained and the client and attorney would discuss possible options concerning the clients specific situation. Matters that
are generally discused would include child custody, child support, child visitation, any real estate owned by the parties,
other personal property and concerns relating to alimony. The attorney would explain the options avaliable concerning
these matters. In some cases these matters are resolved at this first consultation and documents are drafted, signed by both
parties and filed with the court which concludes the matter.
In other cases an agreement is not immediately made and some negotiating takes place. An attorney can only negotiate for
what is in the clients best intrest. An attorney only represents the client and cannot give legal advice to the other spouse.
This means that I can say my client will offer this or that to the unrepresented spouse. However I cannot tell the
unrepresented spouse if this or that is a good idea. If the unrepresented spouse wants advice as to wheather what has been
offered is a good deal for them, they will have to go hire an attorney and ask them. If the other spouse hires an attorney I
can no longer speak to the other spouse and must only communicate with their attorney.
Generally during negotiations we would tell the client what we think would be in there best intrest concerning different
options and they could then negotiate with their spouse and come to an agreement. If they do not wish to discuss possible
compromises with their spouse we could present various offers to the spouse on the clients behalf and hopefully come to an
agreement. However as stated above we could not advise the other spouse as to weather any of the options proposed
were a good idea for them or not.
If none of the above is successful, the next option is mediation. I have found it to be very helpful and it is cheaper and less
painful than a trial.
If mediation is unsuccessful the last option is a trial . If this is necessary you will only need to pay the difference between an
uncontested and contested case.
HOW WILL WE HANDLE YOUR CONTESTED DIVORCE CASE?
Generally in a contested divorce case our client would bring the completed questionnaire to the office or mail, fax or email
the questionnaire to us. My associate or myself would have a consultation with the client in person at our office in Huntsville
or Florence or by phone. During this consultation the applicable laws concerning divorce in Alabama would be explained
and the client and attorney would discuss possible options concerning the clients specific situation. Matters that are
generally discused would include child custody, child support, child visitation, any real estate owned by the parties, other
personal property and concerns relating to alimony. The attorney would explain the options avaliable concerning these
matters.
If after this initial consultation is completed it is apparent that an uncontested divorce will not likely be successful. We will
then prepare a divorce petion and some other documents and file a contested divorce at the appropriate court. In a
contested case we will file documents that ask for everything to begin with including custody of any children, child support,
all the real estate and personal property and if appropriate alimony. We do this because at trial the judge will decide
whatever they decide, however you generally don't get anything you don't ask for in the original documents, therefore we
ask for everything to begin with.
To save us time and you money we will ask you to complete an additional long questionnaire. It will ask for a lot of rather
personal information concerning you and your spouses behavior during the marriage and information concerning your
assetts. This document would be confidential attorney work product and would not be obtainable through the discovery
process by the other party.
If there is an emergency situation where you have a good reason to ask the court to enter an emergency order giving you
temporary relief, we can file an emergency motion and it will either be granted immediately or the judge will set a hearing in
a few weeks concerning the matter . Examples of temporary motions include but are not limited to temporary custody of
children until a final divorce can be granted, temporary child support, temporary spousal support, temporary use of the
residence and vehicle.
In a contested case the court will usually send out a standing order which will direct the attorneys to provide each other
with certain information concerning wages and assetts and set a pre-trial date. The attorneys would then exchange this
information as ordered by the court.
Between the date of the above order and the pre-trial date we would usually file various motions asking for additional
information from the other side in the form of Discovery motions, Interrogatories, Request for production, Request for
admissions etc.
In a contested case depending on the county the case is filed in the court would usually set a pre-trial conference. At this
time the attorneys for both sides would try once more to resolve the case. If unable to resolve matters at the pre-trial
conference the judge may make statements to the attorneys about the possibility of mediation, the judge may or may not
order mediation. If no mediation is ordered the judge will set the case for trial.
Prior to trial any witnesses in the case will be supoened if needed.
During the trial I will ask you many questions concerning your life together. I will ask your witnesses many questions
concerning what they saw. I will ask your spouse many questions and I will have the opportunity to ask your spouses
witnesses questions. Both attorneys will also present written evidence to the court after it has been entered in evidence.
This is a contested divorce in a nutshell.
I would like to close with the following. Many clients will come to the office and they will want to know if we will be
agressive and fight for them . I believe the only honest way to respond is this. I will file the motions to gain the information
needed to prepare for the trial. I will prepare for the trial and I will ask you and your witnesses all the questions I can think
of that would be favorable to your case. I will do the same to your spouse and your spouses witnesses. I will seek to bring
into evidence documents that will assist the judge in making their decision. The attorney on the other side will likely do the
same for their client. I will not likely jump up and down like on television in that It will not impress the judge in the slightest
because the judge is only interested in being presented with the facts of the case. Divorce trials are not jury trials they will
be heard in front of a judge only, who will make a ruling at the end of the case. In the end the judge will make decisions
based on the evidence and that evidence will either show you in a favorable light or it will not and it is as simple as that.
Please give this some thought. If you think about it honestly and you determine that the facts of the case will not show you
in such a favorable light consider trying to work a little harder on setteling the case as an uncontested case .
The following language is required pursuant to Rule 7.2, Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct. No representation is
made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services performed by other
lawyers.This web site is designed for general information only. The information presented at this site should not be
construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.