Lately I’ve had quite a few people contact me because they have been separated from their spouse for over a year, they have resolved all of their issues with their spouse, and they just want to get divorced. For these folks, a full-blown divorce assessment really is not necessary.
However, that doesn’t mean that you don’t need an attorney to sit down and talk with you about the implications of finalizing your divorce. Even if you think that you have resolved all the issues surrounding your divorce – there may be some hidden pitfalls that you haven’t thought about, and once the divorce is final it is too late to fix them. For this reason, I hold fast on my requirement to have a face-to-face meeting or phone conference with every potential client – before I will accept the responsibility of representing you. (However, I will credit the cost of the divorce assessment to the fee for the absolute divorce).
I’ve noticed that there are many attorneys who will allow you to fill out an online contact form, mail in a check or process a credit card online, and they will handle your absolute divorce for a fixed rate. You may never even meet with or talk to them. Because getting a divorce is a major life event – even if you have already had a year to think about it – as a Cary Divorce Lawyer, I think this is a practice to be avoided.