5 Tricks to Save Money on your Utah Divorce
Depending on how you handle things, your Utah divorces can be expensive.
It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Here are the five most effective tricks we’ve found that help control the cost of people’s divorce.
- Get organized before you meet with an attorney.
If you organize your thoughts, goals, and documents before you ever meet with a divorce attorney, you’ll save lots of time.
For example, when you meet with an attorney for the first time and you’ve thought through how you want to discuss your situation, then your time during the initial consultation will be much better spent. And if you already know your goals, you and your attorney will get on the same page much, much faster.
Perhaps the thing that will save you the most time, though, is if you organize your financial documents. You’ll need them for your financial declaration later on anyway, so you might as well organize them right up front. Bring your financial documents to the first meeting with an attorney. It will help tease out debts, assets, and retirement and save time in the future.
- Have realistic expectations.
Nothing runs up a bill faster than unrealistic expectations in divorce. If you believe the other parent will never see your kids, or you’re entitled to $2500 per month in alimony when your spouse makes $5000 per month, then some tempering of expectations is necessary.
One good way to see how things might work out in your divorce is to review our divorce FAQ book.
- Send one email with five questions in it, not five emails containing one question a piece.
Communication with your attorney will account for a large portion of your total bill. It’s always more efficient to send one email or make one phone call in which you ask multiple questions. It just takes less time that way compared to lots of emails and phone calls with in question.
- Get back to you attorney quickly.
When your attorney asks for something (e.g., pay stubs, tax returns, calendars), get it to him or her quickly. Almost nothing will make your case take longer than not getting your attorney what’s necessary to move the case along.
- Be nice to your ex.
Yep, being nice to your ex will save you money, time, and heartache.
This doesn’t mean you roll over and play dead in your divorce. It means that even though what you’re going through is incredibly difficult, and you might not like your soon-to-be ex, you can still act civilly and treat him or her with respect.
I’ve never heard anyone say they regretted being nice to their ex. I have heard hundreds of people regret treating their ex poorly.
