Legal Question in Family Law in Florida
Divorce Without a Lawyer
When a lawyer files a pettition to withdraw from a divorce case for lack of payment from client, (my sister)(owes $11,000.00) who has more than a million dollars in assets and $118,000.00 plus credit card charges she has been living on and what she owes her lawyer, in liability, and only gets $1200.00 support for herself and 3 minor children, and lives in a huge house and husband that has domestic violence injunction against him and control of all money
and a new lawyer wants $25,000.00 retrainer to take her case over. What can she do on her own to get counsel?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Divorce Without a Lawyer
Hello:
Your question seems to primarily pertain to how your sister can get a lawyer and not the legal issues regarding assets, child support or attorney fees. Based on that, I can provide the following:
It sounds like your sister has some assets. I mention this because, she should be able to get an attorney. You probably are aware of what I will state here, but, I can't ask you so I'll lay it out anyway. Most Attorneys need to get retainers as we have overhead and cannot work on files for several months without being paid. If the husband controls their assets, she should ask the court to order him to make half of those assets available to her immediately so she can get an attorney. There are many attorneys out there and they do not all ask for $25,000! Also, some firms may take the case on a partial retainer, knowing there will be assets available to pay for the fees at the end.
As far as finding a lawyer, check...yellow pages, local BAR ASSOCIATION- lawyer referral program, legal insurance companies, etc.
Good luck, Tom Rosenblum, Jacksonville, Fla.
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