Finding the Best Chicago Divorce Attorney
Unfortunately, divorce is the rare type of case where no one “wins.” McNamara Legal understands the divorce process is a painful and stressful experience. Finding a divorce attorney that understands you want it over with quickly (and you want to know how to protect yourself and your assets from the person you thought you could trust, but now wants to make your life miserable), is not easy. If you want to make sure you receive what you have coming, and protect what you have worked hard for in the most expeditious way, you have picked the right Chicago divorce attorney or family law firm.
Orders of Protection and High Net Worth Divorces
Family law and child custody laws are fairly straightforward in Illinois and Indiana. A successful divorce begins with the right expectations and goals. For those with children, child custody and child support are typically the primary concerns over the assets, but not always. In determining property division, Illinois has “equitable distribution” law, meaning the court will decide what is fair considering the particular facts and circumstances. McNamara Legal tailors a case strategy specific to the client’s goals and priorities.
Many times a spouse or significant other will file for an Order of Protection based upon false allegations in order to maliciously interfere with another’s employment, to embarrass and harass them, or as a sordid tactic to get exclusive possession of a residence or custody of the children. False accusations are serious, criminal, and should be dealt with aggressively. McNamara Legal has the experience and knowledge to not only win the order of protection case, but to follow it up with a new lawsuit for malicious prosecution (false charges).
It is also common for one spouse to try to use the children against the other spouse, or lie on their financial disclosures. This is particularly true in high net worth divorce. Technically, high net worth divorces deal with the same issues as any other divorce. However, the main difference is the value of the couple’s assets. Because significant sums of money are at stake, high net worth divorces involve a greater level of contention. Generally, they focus on division of assets and marital property. This can be time consuming when there is no prenuptial agreement.
Hiring an aggressive Chicago divorce lawyer with a business background and education who knows how to read balance sheets, perform detailed asset searches, and value a business is extremely important in high net worth divorces. McNamara Legal also knows exactly how to deal with Chicago’s ample supply of nasty and over-confident divorce attorneys who are very impressed with themselves for no legitimate reason.
Different Types of Divorce Attorneys
Regardless of what an attorney may try to sell you on to bolster themselves (i.e., I’m on a list of “Super Lawyers” because I had all my other lawyer friends nominate me as such), there really are not different types of divorce attorneys. There are Chicago divorce attorneys who have marketing ploys claiming that they fight for “fathers rights” or “mothers rights”. However, the exact same rules and divorce laws apply no matter what gender the client. When finding a divorce attorney, an experienced Chicago divorce attorney that will personally handle all court matters and appearances for a reasonable hourly rate, and not eventually push you off to a lesser experienced attorney within that firm, should be your number one priority.
When to Get a Divorce
Part of being an attorney is listening to your client’s needs and concerns and counseling the client during this emotional time. McNamara Legal sometimes receives calls wondering how to know if you should get a divorce or not when someone is contemplating making the divorce decision. That decision remains with the client. However, factors to consider are: 1) Would you be happier without your spouse? 2) Is your spouse lying to you? 3) Is your spouse sneaking around? 4) Do you trust your spouse? 5) Did your spouse hire a lawyer against you? 6) Have the police been called to your home? 7) Is your spouse abusing or using you? 8) Do you really care if they drop dead tomorrow?
If you answered “no” to number 8 or 4 and “yes” to two or more questions, call McNamara Legal.
The Divorce Process
Once you’ve made your determination, filing for divorce is the first step. Then comes the “discovery process” whereby each side conducts an investigation into the income and assets (for property division) and the suitability of each person to have custody of the children, if any. The court will make that determination based upon its assessment of the “best interests of the child.” It is our job to exhaust every investigative avenue and tactic to ensure the court believes it is in the best interests of the child / children to award custody to YOU. We will be relentless in our efforts to expose your spouse for the person they truly are.
If the parties cannot come to a reasonable settlement vs trial, McNamara Legal has over 50 combined years of litigation experience and trial preparation for cases much more complex than a simple divorce case. Time and time again, McNamara Legal obtains judgments and custody awards that meet or exceed their client's expectations and goals, and even include making sure you get custody of your beloved pet. Post decree, McNamara Legal can assist with modifications, including modifications to child support.
The longer you wait to hire a divorce lawyer, the less effective they may be. Your spouse may already be seeking legal advice, and you can benefit from knowing where to put your assets and what to do with them before your spouse obtains legal advice.
Plan ahead and be prepared. Call McNamara Legal today to schedule a comprehensive evaluation at 312-719-7959.
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