INFO NEEDED BY THE STEWART LAW FIRM TO ESTIMATE RETAINER Thank you for your interest in having The Stewart Law Firm assist you with your family law matter. We require a great deal of information used to determine the urgency of your matter, risks to you, estimate a retainer and assure you and the Firm of a good personality fit! Please answer/complete the following information and return it to the paralegal. Is there a case already filed or pending?
If so, when is the next court date? When was the last court date?
What County?
What is the name of the opposing Counsel?
What is the name of the Judge? If not already filed: What is the matter? Select all that apply: “No money, no kids, no house, no debt” Uncontested divorce “We have a deal on all of it” divorce Divorce Custody fight Visitation fight Alimony Child Support to be set StepParent Adoption DFCS involved Relatives involved Adultery/affairs They have hit me They have threatened me They are self-employed They are dangerous Contempt fight over: Money Visitation denial Bad behavior Child support Owed What county are you in?
What county is the opposing party in? Child/ren: How many? Names, ages and genders. Any special needs? Private school? If you have a house, what is owed on it? Roughly what is it worth? Liens on it? Payments current? Cars: How many? Whose names on which cars? How much are they worth (www3.nadaguides.com)?
How much is monthly payment? How much to pay it off? Payments current? Credit cards: How many? Which cards? Whose names on those cards? How much is monthly payment? How much to pay it off? Payments current? Retirement/401K: How many accounts? With what companies? Whose names on the accounts? How much is each (estimate is okay)? Employment: For you and your opposing party- Where do you work? What do you earn per year? Are you paid hourly or salary? Is there a lot of money or a lot of debt somewhere that we’ll have to fight over? What will they fight you tooth and nail for/over? What will you want us to fight tooth and nail for/over? Which of the following best describe your opposing party: - Must have control, doesn’t matter what the consequences, mostly verbal abuse, but can get pretty scary
- Wants to win at any cost, has threatened me to take the kids, doesn’t really want them, just to hurt me and to maybe avoid child support
- No one will believe me when I explain all the crazy things they’ve done, they act so charming in public, but they are dangerous and capable of anything
- Physical violence- already hit me or others, damaged property
- Lots of hot air, will keep it up until the bill hits them, then they’ll do okay
- Will just agree to anything
- Lies continually and is good at it
- Lies continually and is not good at it
- Hides money, self employed and will make the finances a nightmare, will never cooperate on $
- Has total control of all the assets, I don’t know where to start, has kept me in the dark on purpose
- Passive-aggressive, acted out to make me file so it’d be my fault, wants everybody’s sympathy for my “bad” behavior
- Very religious
- Abuses religion to manipulate
- Money is critical, will do anything to keep costs down
- Pride is critical, will do anything to avoid the shame/embarrassment of this process
- Not bad, but under the control of a 3rd party (family, church, friend) with an agenda
- Is a physical danger to the child/ren
- Is a mental danger to the child/ren
- Not bad, will fuss some but is ready to get this done
- Absolutely refuses to agree to a divorce
- Needs to be handled softly
- Has diagnosed mental health issues
- Abuses drugs/alcohol or has had serious abuse in past
- Martyr/victim
- Needs to punish you for something- real or imagined
- Used you for their needs, doesn’t like/want to work or divide things fairly
The meaner, the scarier, the nastier the opposing party the more expensive the case. Fortunately, we specialize in idiots! We’ve handled cases with no assets to 5M+ in assets. We’ve helped parties who started their case with a prayer and cases which started out with a Restraining Order and eviction from the marital home. We’ve taken and protected businesses. We love what we do. We are unlike other law firms as we are fierce and spiritual and do not tolerate misbehavior in our clients (we expect THEM to misbehave NOT you). For what will feel like a huge sum of money you get to become the passenger in your case and let us drive. You give the destination, we get you there. Unlike other firms, we are happy to give you an idea of what this will cost. It will take the review of the attorney of the information provided above and sometimes a phone call with you to set a specific retainer. When the attorney sets the retainer, we are usually correct that that is what it costs to complete the entire matter about 75% of the time. The other 25% either the client didn’t tell us something or the opposing party, who we like to call the Idiot, begins to act up beyond the original expectations, the Idiot gets an evil attorney, or the case gets assigned to a non-preferred Judge. If all of these things happen in your matter, look out, your fees are likely to double. No reputable family lawyer charges less than a $1,500 to do anything, except an uncontested divorce. Uncontested divorces are relatively rare, everyone wants to have one, but few do. We will perform your uncontested for $750 plus filing fee (usually around $82). No one should ever have to be “served” in an uncontested, hence no budget for it. In the uncontested the attorney reviews your listed property and proposal without a meeting. The Settlement is drafted and you get one set of changes. After any changes are made it is ready to sign and is presented to the Court. The average time for them is about 2 months. |
GUIDELINES TO HELP YOU ESTIMATE YOUR RETAINER Here are the ranges of retainers common to these matters. These are only guidelines and your case may be more or less, depending upon your specific facts and case history. Uncontested divorce:
$750 + filing fee In a divorce without custody/visitation issue, some fighting, but not going to trial:
$1,750-$2,500 In a Modification of Child Support, usually fiercely defended, you will have a Temporary Hearing and at least a mediation:
$2,000-$3,500 In a Contempt- depends greatly on whether you are bringing it or defending it and how
Clear the Order involved is:
$1,500-$3,000 In a Legitimation-depends if it’s a quiet just get it done or someone whats to change a name and Mom is objecting, etc:
$1,500-$2,750 In a TPO, for just the TPO:
Usually $2,000 In a Custody case, contested, with craziness:
$3,500-$7,500 is the starting retainer Moms are usually cheaper (b/c we all know the Court favors them, yes, it is true) It is common for people to have multiple issues, we discount the combined work. We also provide a $200 referral credit on your invoice should you refer a new client! If you are frightened by the prices, it just tells you that the legal market is being very quiet about its fees. Often people lure clients by greatly under-quoting and then constantly asking for money. Did you ever see a Mercedes salesman do that? No. Neither do we. This is serious business. Penny wise is often pound foolish. If you had a heart problem you’d want the John’s Hopkins Doctor at $100K and not the Bob State I can get it done for $15K. Do we take payment plans? Usually. It depends on the matter, your financial history, our case load, and the urgency of your case. All cases taken in less than 7 days before a hearing are subject to a rush fee of $500. We wouldn’t be any good if we didn’t plan our time and throwing in a case at last minute makes it difficult to prepare without disadvantaging other clients, so we would have to work overtime. I hope this assists you. Please make certain you know how you will address your legal fees. “Beg, borrow and steal” is fine so long as it isn’t from us! We know that normal people don’t have a “just in case I need to enter the fight of my life” fund, so we expect it to be hard. However, because we are so dedicated we dislike having to stop mid-case to withdraw because of payment issues. To access our actual Employment Contract and Payment Contract please register on the site. The Stewart Law Firm |