Having gone through a divorce it is possible that you promised yourself that you would never put your family, or yourself, through that process ever again unless absolutely necessary. The stress of the case was quite a bit to handle as was the uncertainty associated with not knowing exactly what the circumstances were going to play out. At the end of the day, whether you were happy with the results or not, you had to find some peace in knowing the issues were finally decided. It was going to take quite a bit to get you to come back to the family law courts.
Well, flash forward a few years and you may be in a position where you are unfortunately having to consider filing a child custody case of some variety. If your ex-spouse has not paid child support for months or has kept your child past her pre-scheduled periods of visitation you may need to file what is known as an Enforcement to have a judge enforce the orders in your Final Decree of Divorce.
If you have found that the visitation schedule that you agreed to in your divorce no longer works for you and your child, or that the amount of child support being paid to you is insufficient based on a new medical need of your child a Modification case may be just what you need. You would be asking your court to review the prior order, take into account your present change in circumstances and decide whether or not a new order is needed to reflect those substantial changes.
Whatever your particular situation may be, the fact remains that while many issues regarding your family law case may have changed since you last left the courtroom, there is at least one thing that remains the same. That factor that is still in place from your divorce is the cost of filing a family law suit.
Money concerns are legitimate and expected
You would like to do whatever it takes to put your child into a safe, stable and comfortable life but to do so you’ve figured out that you are going to have to file a child custody case of some variety. You’ve been through a divorce so you at least know a little of what to expect but can’t quite get over just how expensive these sort of cases are. It could be that you’ve even asked yourself the question of whether or not proceeding with a lawsuit is worth it if the end result means that you are without any money saved after the case has concluded.
What’s more- friends and family have been telling you all the negatives of child custody cases- how long they can take, how unsuccessful they often are and other reasons to keep yourself from moving forward with what your gut tells you is the right thing to do. With so many present costs staring you in the face- sports equipment, school supplies, etc.- is it sensible to even try to file a modification or enforcement suit?
Money is and should be a concern of yours as you begin to learn about child custody cases. You wouldn’t pay for a surgical procedure without knowing how much it is likely to cost and the same goes for a family law case. I’d like to walk you through some issues that you will encounter regarding money and child custody cases in this blog post. Finding a balance between remaining on steady financial ground and doing what you think is best for your child can be a difficult process. However, the attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC would like to help you see all the issues so you can make an evaluation for yourself on what to do in your specific situation.
How does a lawyer actually charge a client?
Different sorts of lawyers bill clients in different sorts of ways. Family law attorneys typically do things their own way so I will write based off of what I am familiar with at our office, the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC.
Meet with an attorney with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC for free
The first interaction that you will likely have with an attorney is in an initial consultation. This meeting will occur between you and the attorney and the discussion will likely center around your potential case and the options that you can take to reach whatever goals you have set for yourself. This should be a no commitment necessary environment where you are free to ask questions and receive pieces of general advice on how you could proceed.
If you are interested in learning more about the attorney, you can ask him or her questions about their office, their experience and their thoughts on your case. Depending on how the meeting goes you can decide whether or not to hire that particular attorney. Be on the lookout for attorneys who only want to “sell” themselves to you. From my experiences an attorney with the heart of a teacher is who you want by your side. This sort of attorney will show you the “why” behind something just as easily as she will show you the “how”.
The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC offer free of charge consultations. To my knowledge not many family law attorneys in southeast Texas will meet with you without charging you a certain sum of money. You can meet with us in person, six days a week to go over your case and to brainstorm ideas of how to attack the problem. If you don’t want to sign on as a client of ours that’s perfectly ok. We will work to present you with a solid picture of what having us on your team to help can do for you, however.
Next steps after the initial consultation
Assuming that you decide to hire our office to represent you in your child custody case you will pay our office a retainer fee. This fee literally “retains” our services for you to utilize in your child custody case. You would pay this money at the outset of our representation of you. Future work done on your case is paid for by this retainer fee. Attorneys at our office bill clients by the hour, meaning that we keep track of the time spent working on your case and bill you according to our hourly rate as employees. Your contract that you sign will discuss with you exactly what each employee at our office bills per hour.
Approximately one month after you sign on as a client of our office we will work with you to sign up to be billed on a monthly basis. As your retainer begins to run low, we will want to ensure that we can still work on your case as much as is necessary to help you accomplish your goals. By signing up for monthly payments you are giving us permission to draft money from a checking account or to charge a debit or credit card for a certain amount of money each month. This way the work gets done on your case without delay and our office staff and attorneys get paid for the work performed.
More on child custody case costs and tips to save money coming tomorrow
Thank you for your attention and interest in the topic of cost savings in a Texas child custody case. As we discussed in the blog post the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, PLLC offers free of charge consultations to people like yourself who are interested in learning more about child custody cases. We proudly represent families in southeast Texas in a variety of family law cases and we would be honored to do the same for you as well. Please contact us today to schedule a consultation with one of our licensed family law attorneys.