Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Attorney Fees

If all you are trying to do is put the divorce into place and there are no money, child or property issues, many attorneys will handle it on a fixed fee basis. However, if the divorce is going to be contested by your husband because of the above issues, you will end up paying for the attorney's time on an hourly basis. Depending on the issues and how it comes out, the court might order your husband to reimburse you for all or some of your fees, but you won't know that until it's over.

Re: Attorney Fees

Many attorneys will agree to handle a divorce case with a payment plan,but almost always they will insist on a retainer adequate to cover a significant part of the expected fees before entering their appearance as your attorney. A husband or wife who is without adequate resources to pay an attorney can, if the other party has substantially greater income of financial assets, can file a motion asking the court to order the other party to pay temporary spousal support. The court will consider evidence of the financial needs of the person asking for support and evidence of the ability of the other party to pay, and will then often order that temporary support, sometimes called temporary alimony, be paid. This temporary support will not be based in any way on who filed the complaint for divorce or on the merits of the case, or on who, if anyone, is at fault regarding the breakdown of the marriage. From your question I gather that you have already, unsuccessfully, been to court asking for some kind of temporary financial help. If that was done without assistance of counsel, I would advise you to find an attorney who will represent you and then go back to court to again ask for support.

Re: Attorney Fees

I assume you filed for temporary alimony and were denied. If

you filed without the assistance of an attorney, an attorney can re-file

on this matter and may prevail. The main attribute reviewed for temporary

alimony is the disparity of income between the parties.

You can file for attorney's fees as part of your divorce. However, this is not

likely to change an attorney's assessment of whether to charge a flat fee or an hourly

rate. In either event, an attorney will require upfront money to pursue your matter.

The basis of an attorney's fee will depend on the complexity of your case, whether child(ren)

are involved, the basis for the divorce, whether there will be a contest on the matter, whether

there is property that may be subject to a monetary award, and other matters.

I accept a limited number of divorce matters at a reduced fee where the case is relatively straight forward.

In such cases, I almost always bill all costs incurred as the revenue from such cases does not justify covering

costs as well. The downside of taking such cases is that a client may abuse the situation and take significant time

away from his/her bread and butter work. Legal practice involves considerable costs which most people simply do not take into

account when valuing legal services.

G. Joseph Holthaus III

(410) 799-9002