Family law matters can be stressful and frightening — especially if you have never even stepped into an attorney’s office before. The legal process can overwhelm you with details, documentation, questions, and potential pitfalls. Onto this heap of fears and anxieties we must then add another potential panic trigger: cost. How do you move forward through the family law process without a clear picture of the costs involved–and what do you do when your attorney can’t provide you with an exact dollar amount?
Here at Evans Family Law Group, we always strive for the most transparent attorney-client relationships possible. Unfortunately, no matter how experienced we are from countless cases similar to yours, we do not possess a crystal ball. Each case has its own individual peaks and valleys, ranging from how hotly certain points are contested to how much documentation must be collected and sifted through between initial consultations and the final court judgement. even if it were possible to give you a confident estimate of your legal costs in a family law matter, the legal rules of ethics would prohibit us from doing so. In all honesty however, you can expect family law representation by any qualified firm to be expensive.
But none of that means you should be completely in the dark about costs. Quite the contrary; we feel strongly that a healthy attorney-client relationship addresses the cost issue alongside every other pertinent issue in the case. We can brief you on the general requirements and timelines that go into a typical family law case, and explain to you how your case may conform or not conform to those parameters. This will give you some idea of the price ranges involved, and on what schedule you can expect to incur different costs. But even general predictions can be hard to nail down. If we already know what initial strategy we intend to bring to your case, the costs early on may seem fairly clear-cut. Once we move into the middle stages, however, complications may muddy the waters.
The key to understanding the cost issue, at all phases of the case, is dialogue. Clear, honest communication between client and attorney is the absolute best way to prepare yourself for the strategic and financial issues as they come up. Contact Evans Family Law firm to get that communication line going with an initial consultation.