Again that depends on whether it’s a non-contested divorce with all terms settled or whether it’s a contested divorce. Contested divorces go anywhere for $2,500, $20,000, $30,000 or higher. I would say that if you have a contested middle class divorce, the average is between $5 and $20,000. If you have a contested divorce with an estate in the seven figure range, you’re probably talking $20 to $50,000 in cost. If you have an uncontested divorce in which all the terms are agreed to, we can usually do that for a flat fee of around $2,000.
By: Scott Shaw
Again that depends on whether it’s a non-contested divorce with all terms settled or whether it’s a contested divorce. Contested divorces go anywhere for $2,500, $20,000, $30,000 or higher. I would say that if you have a contested middle class divorce, the average is between $5 and $20,000. If you have a contested divorce with an estate in the seven figure range, you’re probably talking $20 to $50,000 in cost. If you have an uncontested divorce in which all the terms are agreed to, we can usually do that for a flat fee of around $2,000.
By: Scott Shaw
The answer is no. The court offers mediation services and many counties require mediation of a case, not all counties. For example, Gwinnett country won’t require you to mediate, but they do encourage it. And other counties like county require mediation. But in regards to marriage counseling and trying to patch the marriage up, that’s something we can agree to. We can even get the court to sign an order that the parties will try to go to marriage counseling, but the court will not offer such a service to you.
By: Scott Shaw
The answer is no. The court offers mediation services and many counties require mediation of a case, not all counties. For example, Gwinnett country won’t require you to mediate, but they do encourage it. And other counties like county require mediation. But in regards to marriage counseling and trying to patch the marriage up, that’s something we can agree to. We can even get the court to sign an order that the parties will try to go to marriage counseling, but the court will not offer such a service to you.
By: Scott Shaw
In this video, I will be discussing the topic of international divorce, child custody, and passport issues. Family law issues frequently cross state and even international boundaries. We have handled cases involving the following countries: South Africa, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Germany, Great Britain, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Canada, China, Mexico, Peru, Russia, France, and probably a few other countries that I do not even recall. These cases create some very complex jurisdictional and international procedural questions.
Are foreign international divorces and custody orders enforceable in the United States even if there is no treaty with the country? To answer your question, in general, no matter which country you are from, as long as you reside in the state of Georgia for six months you can get a divorce in the state of Georgia. Your spouse does not have to consent to the divorce. Your spouse does not even have to come to the state of Georgia. With or without his or her cooperation you can get the divorce. And in most countries in the world the divorce will be legally binding on both of you.
There are sometimes special issues dealing with Muslim divorces being recognized in certain parts of the Middle East that we can discuss with you, but, in general, a divorce in the United States will be recognized abroad. Likewise, if your children have lived in the United States for at least six months and call Georgia home we can probably get a custody order in the state of Georgia that would be legally enforceable in most countries in the rest of the world. One common issue is whether or not a child may travel internationally after the case. The issue is twofold.
Will I be able to travel internationally with my child even if the other parent does not consent? Or two: Will I be able to prevent the other parent from taking the child out of the country without my consent?The court may not have the power to force a parent to cooperate with obtaining a passport, but the court does have the power to issue an order that allows one parent – without the consent of the other parent – to obtain a passport.
What this means from a practical perspective is you need to resolve any passport issues that may exist in your case with an appropriate court order. You cannot wait and rely on the other parent to cooperate with you after a child’s passport expires. International Family Law issues are becoming more and more common and it should not be so difficult to find a good lawyer to deal with these.
By: Scott Shaw
In this video, I will be discussing the topic of international divorce, child custody, and passport issues. Family law issues frequently cross state and even international boundaries. We have handled cases involving the following countries: South Africa, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Germany, Great Britain, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, Canada, China, Mexico, Peru, Russia, France, and probably a few other countries that I do not even recall. These cases create some very complex jurisdictional and international procedural questions.
Are foreign international divorces and custody orders enforceable in the United States even if there is no treaty with the country? To answer your question, in general, no matter which country you are from, as long as you reside in the state of Georgia for six months you can get a divorce in the state of Georgia. Your spouse does not have to consent to the divorce. Your spouse does not even have to come to the state of Georgia. With or without his or her cooperation you can get the divorce. And in most countries in the world the divorce will be legally binding on both of you.
There are sometimes special issues dealing with Muslim divorces being recognized in certain parts of the Middle East that we can discuss with you, but, in general, a divorce in the United States will be recognized abroad. Likewise, if your children have lived in the United States for at least six months and call Georgia home we can probably get a custody order in the state of Georgia that would be legally enforceable in most countries in the rest of the world. One common issue is whether or not a child may travel internationally after the case. The issue is twofold.
Will I be able to travel internationally with my child even if the other parent does not consent? Or two: Will I be able to prevent the other parent from taking the child out of the country without my consent?The court may not have the power to force a parent to cooperate with obtaining a passport, but the court does have the power to issue an order that allows one parent – without the consent of the other parent – to obtain a passport.
What this means from a practical perspective is you need to resolve any passport issues that may exist in your case with an appropriate court order. You cannot wait and rely on the other parent to cooperate with you after a child’s passport expires. International Family Law issues are becoming more and more common and it should not be so difficult to find a good lawyer to deal with these.
By: Scott Shaw
In equitable division, one of the most issues that come up is to try to ascertain what is marital property and what is not marital property. Because if your property’s determined to be non-marital property, it cannot be divided according to accrual distribution. What non-marital property is, generally speaking, is if you own the property prior to marriage, you inherited the property or you were gifted the property. If you can prove that, the property remains yours.
One of the most complicating factors is what if you have non-marital property that has both portions of marital and non-marital aspects to it. Valuing that property and proving up your non-marital interest is one of the most valuable issues that a good attorney can do for you. Whereas, marital property is all subject to be divided between the parties and the spouses in a divorce.
By: Scott Shaw
In equitable division, one of the most issues that come up is to try to ascertain what is marital property and what is not marital property. Because if your property’s determined to be non-marital property, it cannot be divided according to accrual distribution. What non-marital property is, generally speaking, is if you own the property prior to marriage, you inherited the property or you were gifted the property. If you can prove that, the property remains yours.
One of the most complicating factors is what if you have non-marital property that has both portions of marital and non-marital aspects to it. Valuing that property and proving up your non-marital interest is one of the most valuable issues that a good attorney can do for you. Whereas, marital property is all subject to be divided between the parties and the spouses in a divorce.
By: Scott Shaw
Well, that depends. If you have an uncontested divorce in which all issues are settled, or if you have a case and were able to reach a settlement before the need to go to court, then you will not need to go to court except for maybe five minutes to take a routine final. But if there are contested issues in the divorce, yes, you will need to go to court.
You will testify, and other people may testify on your behalf. It just depends on the case. So you will need to expect to testify, but any good attorney will prep you for your testimony, and most of our clients do very well on the stand. The one thing to keep in mind is you need to tell the truth because not telling the truth can often be more harmful than telling the truth. But other than that, you will be prepped and prepared to testify.
By: Scott Shaw
Well, that depends. If you have an uncontested divorce in which all issues are settled, or if you have a case and were able to reach a settlement before the need to go to court, then you will not need to go to court except for maybe five minutes to take a routine final. But if there are contested issues in the divorce, yes, you will need to go to court.
You will testify, and other people may testify on your behalf. It just depends on the case. So you will need to expect to testify, but any good attorney will prep you for your testimony, and most of our clients do very well on the stand. The one thing to keep in mind is you need to tell the truth because not telling the truth can often be more harmful than telling the truth. But other than that, you will be prepped and prepared to testify.
By: Scott Shaw
Probably the next most common question I’m asked about equitable distribution is how do you handle 401ks, IRAs, and other retirement accounts? Well one thing to know is if you have a 401k account, it is subject to be divided during divorce at least the marital portion of it, and it can be divided tax free through what’s called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order or a QDRO.
IRAs on the other hand can be divided tax free again, but you don’t need a QDRO to do it. You can do it administratively and normally through whatever brokerage account holds your IRA account. Other pension plans say like a fixed benefit plan where you get a certain amount per year after you retire, those two are subject to be divided once you determine what the marital portion is, and usually those are divided again through a QDRO that is called the same thing but it’s a bit different than a QDRO used to divide a 401k. All these assets can be divided tax free in a divorce.
Probably the biggest issue is just determining what the marital portion of these accounts are. Do not assume just because you don’t have a 401k that your spouse does not because you have an equitable interest in any 401k amounts of money accumulated during the marriage.
By: Scott Shaw
Probably the next most common question I’m asked about equitable distribution is how do you handle 401ks, IRAs, and other retirement accounts? Well one thing to know is if you have a 401k account, it is subject to be divided during divorce at least the marital portion of it, and it can be divided tax free through what’s called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order or a QDRO.
IRAs on the other hand can be divided tax free again, but you don’t need a QDRO to do it. You can do it administratively and normally through whatever brokerage account holds your IRA account. Other pension plans say like a fixed benefit plan where you get a certain amount per year after you retire, those two are subject to be divided once you determine what the marital portion is, and usually those are divided again through a QDRO that is called the same thing but it’s a bit different than a QDRO used to divide a 401k. All these assets can be divided tax free in a divorce.
Probably the biggest issue is just determining what the marital portion of these accounts are. Do not assume just because you don’t have a 401k that your spouse does not because you have an equitable interest in any 401k amounts of money accumulated during the marriage.
By: Scott Shaw
Dividing automobiles is sometimes simple. If the automobile is in each respective parties names and each respective party owes the debt in the automobile, then that’s not a problem. The problem comes, not from the title on the automobile which can easily transfer, the problem comes by whose name is on the debt that financed the automobile because absolutely, unless there’s no other choice, you do not want to give your ex-spouse the car that you’re liable to owe the money on. That just leads to bad consequences and that’s an issue we need to address in many divorces.
By: Scott Shaw
Dividing automobiles is sometimes simple. If the automobile is in each respective parties names and each respective party owes the debt in the automobile, then that’s not a problem. The problem comes, not from the title on the automobile which can easily transfer, the problem comes by whose name is on the debt that financed the automobile because absolutely, unless there’s no other choice, you do not want to give your ex-spouse the car that you’re liable to owe the money on. That just leads to bad consequences and that’s an issue we need to address in many divorces.
By: Scott Shaw
You begin your divorce by contacting a good attorney who knows what they are doing, and your attorney will consult with you, advise you whether you should even get a divorce, talk about the relevant issues you have to deal with, whether now is even a good time to file, what sort of planning you need to do, and the attorney will instruct you how to proceed forward.
By: Scott Shaw
You begin your divorce by contacting a good attorney who knows what they are doing, and your attorney will consult with you, advise you whether you should even get a divorce, talk about the relevant issues you have to deal with, whether now is even a good time to file, what sort of planning you need to do, and the attorney will instruct you how to proceed forward.
By: Scott Shaw
The process for filing a divorce is, at least with our firm, we issue a divorce questionnaire to you which is about 26 pages. But don’t worry about it, it’s not as hard as it seems. What we try to do is get an idea of what the marital state and now marital state is. And we also get personal information.
From there we draft up a divorce complaint. The divorce complaint is drafted, and we usually email it to you, because there is a page at the end of the divorce complaint called the verification page, that the client needs to execute and then return the original to us.
Once we have that back, then we file with a clerk at court. The case will be filed in one of two places, either in the county where the other party lives, or if the other party lived in a marital home within the past six months, the county where the marital home is. So the case will be filed in one of those two counties. Then the case will either be put off for sheriff service, service per by the process server, or we will ask the other party to voluntarily acknowledge service, which is the friendly way to do it. But that doesn’t work in every case.
By: Scott Shaw
The process for filing a divorce is, at least with our firm, we issue a divorce questionnaire to you which is about 26 pages. But don’t worry about it, it’s not as hard as it seems. What we try to do is get an idea of what the marital state and now marital state is. And we also get personal information.
From there we draft up a divorce complaint. The divorce complaint is drafted, and we usually email it to you, because there is a page at the end of the divorce complaint called the verification page, that the client needs to execute and then return the original to us.
Once we have that back, then we file with a clerk at court. The case will be filed in one of two places, either in the county where the other party lives, or if the other party lived in a marital home within the past six months, the county where the marital home is. So the case will be filed in one of those two counties. Then the case will either be put off for sheriff service, service per by the process server, or we will ask the other party to voluntarily acknowledge service, which is the friendly way to do it. But that doesn’t work in every case.
By: Scott Shaw
Arizona Dissolution of Marriage
In divorce, many issues require a resolution. Those issues can be resolved either by you or by the court before you can…
Read MoreA Judge Can Order a Parent to Attend Counseling in Arizona
A Judge Orders a Parent to Attend Domestic Violence Counseling in Arizona Can a judge order a parent in a child custody…
Read More
