South Bend Divorce Lawyer

Dealing with a divorce is never easy. Many times you not only have the emotional strain of a relationship ending, but you will be faced with financial and legal difficulties as well. If there are children involved in the marriage, this only increases the strain that is felt. Whether you are filing for divorce, or your spouse has already filed, don’t take the chance that everything will work out. As a divorce lawyer, I can help you understand what rights you have and work with you to help protect those rights.

Because of the complexity divorce can create, it is important to have a divorce lawyer who has the necessary experience to protect your rights while working to resolve these matters.

A South Bend Divorce Lawyer’s Different Approach to Divorce

I believe that the best approach to divorce is to work towards a divorce settlement while avoiding unnecessary litigation. As your divorce lawyer, I first help you understand the process and your rights under the Indiana divorce statutes, then I work with you to find middle ground with which you can live to help ensure that you have a divorce that minimizes the pain and impact. Going through a divorce doesn’t mean you have to be in front of the Court and showing all of your private matters with the public.  As a divorce lawyer, I can help you achieve better results through mediation and negotiations.

There are times when agreements can’t be reached despite the parties best attempts at mediation. If that is the case, then the Court will be asked to make decisions regarding the matters that couldn’t be settled. If your case does reach this point, you need to have a divorce lawyer on your side who understands how best to present a family law case in a litigation setting. Having handled many hearings related to family law matters, I have the the knowledge and experience to effectively represent you as your divorce lawyer.

What can I expect from a divorce case?

The first part of the process will depend on whether you will be the party that files for divorce or you are responding to a divorce petition.  If you are filing for a divorce you may have to pay court costs and service fees so that the other party can be notified that you have filed for a dissolution of marriage under Indiana law.

The next step typically involves some form of provisional hearing or provisional agreement that is filed with the Court.  These provisional orders will govern everything from joint accounts, to the marital residence, to custody, parenting time, child support, automobile usage, etc.  Essentially, you are coming up with a plan on how to temporarily handle all aspects of separating your married lives.

Once a provisional order has been completed, the hope is that you will be able to come to some form of agreement on all aspects of dissolving the marriage.  This can be done through negotiation or through mediation, or just by the parties simply talking about what they want with one another.  If an agreement is reached then a Property Settlement Agreement is drafted and filed with the Court.  This will happen no sooner than 60 days after the divorce has been filed.  One nice thing about filing an agreement with the Court is that you do not have to go before the Court.

If for any reason disputed issues are unable to be resolved, then you will have to settle the matter before the Court.  Does is done by having a trial on all the contested issues that may be remaining.  It is possible to have an agreement on some of the issues, but need to litigate others.  Once the trial is completed, the Court will issue an order directing the parties on how the contested issues will be handled and dissolving the marriage.

Remember, this is just a brief synopsis of the process, and you may have aspects of your divorce case that would alter the normal course.  It is best to discuss this with a divorce lawyer to determine the best course of action for your case.

What will my divorce cost me?

This is often the most asked question that comes with any sort of divorce consultation.  Unfortunately, the answer is that it depends.  Various factors such as how much property is involved in the marriage, are there children, how agreeable will everyone be, etc., can greatly impact the cost.

I am like most attorneys in that I charge an hourly rate for most divorce cases.  That rate is $125 per hour with an initial retainer of $1,000.  This retainer will cover the first several billable hours, filing fees, etc.  There are some instances when I can offer a flat fee divorce rate, such as a case where everything is already agreed upon, or there are no real issues to litigate.

Call or Email today to arrange you free initial consultation with South Bend Divorce Lawyer, Jeffery Haupt.