THE STRATEGIC DIVORCE PROCESS™

Divorce is complicated. It can be messy. And when you’re first starting out, it’s incredibly overwhelming. It’s hard to know what to expect or even where to start. The attorneys at Strategic Divorce strive to educate our clients on all relevant matters to ease an often-difficult process. It was this goal of education that inspired me to write The Strategic Divorce Process™, which will be released later this summer. I am pleased to share the following excerpt with Sheridan Road readers.

The Divorce Process – Initial Steps and Strategies

When a client first visits a Strategic Divorce office, an intake session takes place where the client meets with two attorneys. While most firms assign one lawyer per client, we believe it’s important to have two attorneys who are well-versed in the case. This way, if a question arises and one attorney is in court or speaking with another client, the other attorney can address the issue.

During the intake session, we listen to the client’s story—we learn who they are, who their spouse is, if they have kids—if so, how many, what their financial status is, what the home life is like, etc.

Next, and possibly most importantly, we figure out what has to happen for the client to feel like the divorce was successful. We want to know how they picture their life in a year. What assets did they keep? What kind of child decision-making or visitation do they have? Where do they live? What is their job? This helps us understand what matters most to them and to determine if their goals are attainable. We want to understand a client’s expectations early so we can explain any limitations that exist under the divorce law.

Once the client is ready, we move forward with the divorce or dissolution of marriage. Every divorce starts with one party filing a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and how this is handled sets the tone for the entire divorce proceeding. Typically, the non-filing spouse is served with the petition. Often, they have no idea it is coming and are surprised when a sheriff shows up at their house or place of work.

Doesn’t sound very amicable, does it?

When Strategic Divorce files a Petition for Dissolution, we avoid papers being served. Instead, we send the petition via email, directly to the other party. This notifies them that we’ve been hired to represent their spouse, requests that they forward the petition to their lawyer, and asks that they contact us within seven days so that we don’t have to serve them.

We encourage clients to have a conversation with their spouse the day before the paperwork is filed. While most couples on the edge of divorce know it’s coming, it still can come as a huge surprise when proceedings actually begin. By warning the spouse the day before the petition is filed, it helps to remove the initial shock.

That being said, we highly recommend that this conversation happens the day before the papers are filed and not a month before. As the original petition is often written in a way that favors the filing party, we want to make sure our clients file first.

After the petition has been sent, the spouse will either hire an attorney or opt to represent themselves (we recommend that you do not represent yourself. You want somebody on your side who fully understands the nuances of divorce law).

I hope you have found this explanation of the beginning of the divorce process illuminating. In my book, I break divorce down into five steps. Next month’s excerpt will address Step 1: Decisions for the Children: How will these be made, which decisions can be made separately, and which ones must be made together? I will explain what to expect when navigating this thorny issue.

Michone Riewer is an attorney with Strategic Divorce in Lake Bluff, 847-234-4445, strategicdivorce.com.