Excerpt from Divorce in Arizona by Marlene Pontrelli and Robert Schwartz
Going through the divorce process can be a frightening and often intimidating experience. Many people have never had to meet with a lawyer before, or been involved in any type of litigation. At the same time you are facing the challenges of understanding the legal process, you are also trying to address the emotional issues that often come with the decision to terminate a marriage.
Your first step should be to understand the divorce process and then consider whether you need to hire a lawyer. In Arizona, you are not required to have an attorney to obtain a divorce. However, if your case involved children, spousal maintenance, significant property, or debts, you may find it easier to have an attorney than proceeding on your own.
If your divorce does not involve any of these issues, contact the self-help center at the superior court in your county, or call the clerk of the court to request documents and instructions that may be used in filing your own case and proceeding on your own. In some counties, the forms are online. A person who proceeds in a legal matter without a lawyer is referred to as being in pro per or pro se, on one's own.
If you are considering proceeding without an attorney, you may want to at least have an initial consultation with an attorney to discuss your rights and duties under the law. You may have certain rights or obligations you are unaware of. Meeting with a lawyer can help you decide whether to proceed on your own. Accordingly, consider the following questions that may help you decide how best to proceed.
- What is your particular experience in family law, and in handling this type of situation in particular?
- Do you work evenings and weekends? If something occurs of importance over the weekend, what is your policy for addressing those issues?
- Will you personally be handling my case or will other lawyers or paralegals be assisting?
- What is the best way to communicate with you? (Telephone? E-mail?) How do you charge for each?
- Do you have a policy on how long before you return a telephone call?
- How many times do you expect that we will need to meet in person? Under what circumstances will we need to meet in person?
- What is the specific divorce process and how long do you expect it to take?
- What is likely cost? (This will be a difficult question for your lawyer to answer. Be wary if you are given a specific cost since so many variables exist which are unknown at the initial consultation. However, the lawyer may be able to give you an idea of what similar cases have cost, or the potential range of costs depending on whether the action is contested, settled, or litigated).
- Will there be a need to hire other individuals to assist with the divorce such as financial planners, valuation experts, forensic accountants, vocational evaluators? If so, what are the likely expenses for these individuals?
- If I do not have access to obtain all the financial information, how will the information be obtained?
- Based upon the situation that I have explained, what do you see as the most challenging aspects of my case? How do you believe these challenges should be handled? What is the likely outcome?
- Is this a potential case that may be good for mediation or some other dispute resolution process? Why or why not?
- Are there any steps now that I should take to protect myself financially?
- What are the first steps you would take if I were to retain you?
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
