Everybody wants to win, if you can't have a complete win people want to know how close can they come to winning. Let's face it, nobody wants to lose in life and least of all in a divorce case. In hiring a divorce attorney, clients often ask what will happen, what will I get and what will the judge do. Well like most things in life, the answer is it depends.
Some questions are pretty easy to answer within a certain range. A formula for child support exists unless there is a high income earner, split custody or other unusual factors which may make the answer somewhat less predictable.
Spousal support is much less clear, while there is a formula for temporary maintenance, many judges will deviate from the formula because of the other financial obligations placed on the parties such as mortgage payments, utilities, insurance and other general family obligations. Final maintenance awards are based on many factors and the factors do not have equal weight. Nevertheless, experienced divorce attorneys will have a fairly good idea of the range and length of payments.
Custody cases are easy to predict if one person has major problems such as drug addicition, alcohol abuse or child abuse. However, with two good parents and children that do not have strong preferences for one parent or the other, custody results, if not agreed upon, can be extremely difficult to predict.
Division of property in simple cases is easy to predict but in complicated cases it is much harder. Issues involving growth of separate property or the value of a business can even after appraisal still leave unresolved issues. With good attorneys for both clients acceptable results can usually be negotiated.
Selecting an excellent matrimonial attorney with years of experience may be the most important decision that a client makes. As in any occupation, the more years of experience and specialization the more likely the best resutls will be obtained. While there are no absolutes, attorneys who are among the best in their practice area will have a better idea of how the judges in their county will respond to different issues. When judges have discretion in deciding a case, the attorneys who can best convey your position and who can "read" the judge will give their clients the best advice. Not every case can be won because more often than not divorce results are a blend with compromise being very important. However, when a case or specific issue is tried before the judge, the results are usually more black and white. But even then, the judge may still decide to issue a blended result that is not a complete win.
Please call my office so that I can help you obtain the results you want based upon my practicing law for over 30 years and devoting my practice to matrimonial law for over 21 years.