When you think about what the best divorce attorneys would do for your family law case, you naturally think about litigation and negotiation skills, knowledge of the law and a keen familiarity with the family court.
But there is one more thing the best attorneys do for your divorce - help you manage those complex emotions that can sometimes take hold and cause stress and anxiety.
We don't use the word "never" often but it is safe to say that our divorce attorneys have never represented a client that, at some point, struggled with the emotions caused by a divorce. Many times, those emotions are manageable and completely normal. After all, any person who goes through a divorce will feel them at some point. However, when you infuse contentious custody cases and complex financial issues into a divorce, the emotions can become heightened and that is where the best family law attorneys can help make a difference.
How do we do this? Let's go through some of those steps and we will use child custody cases within a divorce as the example.
Child custody cases can be the center of stress and anxiety
Custody cases cause more stress and negative emotions than any other area of divorce. It is your children after all. Experienced attorneys will tell you that most of the emotions in custody cases are caused by "uncertainty."
Fortunately, knowledge is a very much power.
Our lawyers take the time to ensure our clients understand not just what we are doing but why we are doing it as it relates to the custody case.
We work as a team with our clients. We don't make decisions for our clients. We give options. Our clients ask intelligent questions because they are informed of those options. The best choices are made because there was little to no guesswork involved in the decision-making process. It sounds simple but it requires diligence and hard work.
Our attorneys don't rush the client to a decision. We talk about the case and its facts well before we file paperwork with the Court. I am surprised how many lawyers talk to their clients for the first time about strategy on the day of the family law custody hearing. We take our time, analyze the facts, ensure our client knows the law and proceed with that knowledge.
Few things relieve anxiety more than knowing the facts and your choices and the better lawyers take the time to inform a client of both.
Court battles over custody can increase anxiety in the divorce
But what about the fight in court? How does a parent deal with that stress? Simple. You pick the battles wisely.
It doesn't make any sense for any parent to pick a fight in a custody case over issues that should easily resolve and the Family Court would expect to easily resolve.
I've seen too many parents in other cases get into expensive and emotionally draining disputes over a few percentages of time with the children. I have sat and watched as I waited for my case to be called other parents and their lawyers spend extensive court time arguing over a couple of hours of visitation over the course of a week.
This type of behavior that is fueled by either inexperienced or, even worse, unprofessional family law attorneys is exactly what drives emotions over the cliff.
When we take on a divorce case our advocates make sure that we go through with our clients the current custody and visitation arrangement, find out how it is working out for the children and quickly determine what changes, if any, need to be made. We then execute on the plan.
Knowing how to deal with harassment and intimidation from your spouse
Then, there are the parents that are hell-bent on causing problems by harassment or intimidation. These are the parents we sometimes see on the other side of the case who think they can bully our client and won't relent. We do not engage in long discussions and months of litigation with this type of parent or his or her lawyer. We file our requests for orders and take the matter to the court to put a stop to the harassment and intimidation and obtain orders consistent with the children's best interests.
That is logically because we have learned through our experience and our knowledge that certain parents are destructive and refuse to act consistent with what they should do in the children's best interest.
There is no sense engaging in lengthy negotiations and hope for the best with these types.
There's no reason for our clients to suffer through months of stress tolerating this type of behavior.
While no family court wants to micromanage a child custody case and the issues have to be serious and not trivial (meaning they have a significant impact on the children) bringing to the judge's attention these issues is often the fastest way to get them resolved.
We have psychologists appointed when necessary to do a full evaluation. We ask for child custody investigations by the Court investigators. We sometimes use the option of requesting a minor's counsel. You have choices. You need to know what they are to make informed decisions.
Our clients see us perform and move the case along quickly to hearing or trial so the harassing parent's window closes quickly and, before he or she knows it, that parent is in Family Court and has to answer for his or her behavior - and answer they do.
Let's review how divorce attorneys like those within our firm help clients manage the complex emotions and stress of a family law case.
- We take the time to ensure we understand all of the facts.
- We patiently go through with our client all of his or her reasonable options and together as a team help our clients make the best choice for the custody case.
- We advise our client to settle issues that we know the family law judge will expect to be settled and we work hard to make sure that our client does not spend unnecessary money litigating issues that should be resolved.
- If we are dealing with a parent on the other side of the case that is harassing or intimidating our client and negotiations have failed or would be a waste of time, we quickly file the necessary court paperwork including all requests for orders and take the matter to hearing at the earliest available date that the court will give us.
While there is no perfect way to handle any divorce case, our divorce attorneys bring diligent attention and focus to your case.
Do you have a divorce or family law case that has caused you stress and emotions that you are having difficulty managing?
Are you a good person, with the right motivations, honest and need experienced and knowledgeable attorneys to get your case on the right track?
If you answered yes to these questions, then you owe it to yourself to contact us for a consultation.