Saving Costs in Family Law Matters

When Family Law matters arise, obtaining legal advice is a very important first step. However, it is a simple fact that for the vast majority of people who do not qualify for free legal services, legal advice costs money. Our Family Law Solicitors have taken the time to provide you with some tips on how to reduce your family law legal fees.

Here are our top 10 tips to help you save money on legal fees

1. Have a plan. When you meet with your family or divorce lawyer for the first time, spend a few minutes discussing the likely steps in your matter. Agree on a plan. End each conversation with your lawyer with the question: “What is the next step in my matter?” This will ensure that both understand what is to happen next and that you remain up to date with the progress that is being made.

2. Read the Costs Agreement. Your family lawyer will provide a Costs Agreement, which sets out the basis on which he or she is prepared to act for you. Make sure you understand what is expected from you as part of the agreement, such as being able to provide instructions in a timely way. If there are terms that set out the circumstances in which the family lawyer may not be able to act for you, familiarise yourself with these.

3. Agree on the best way to communicate with your lawyer. If you have a busy job and can only be contacted at certain times during the day, or by email rather than a phone call, advise this upfront. There is nothing worse than receiving an itemised bill from a solicitor with a list of dates when you missed his or her urgent telephone calls.

4. Avoid long telephone conversations. Our research indicates that if you are spending half an hour or more on the phone to your family lawyer on a regular basis, you would achieve far more in a scheduled face-to-face meeting, for the same cost.

5. Provide instructions in a timely fashion. If you are wondering why your lawyer has not been in touch lately, it might be because the ball is in your court. Check the most recent correspondence and see whether your lawyer asked for you to provide instructions, or perhaps provide certain documents, so that the matter can proceed to the next step.

6. Provide summaries. When you are asked to provide documents such as birth certificates, bank statements or income tax returns, always provide a covering note with a description of the items that you are enclosing. If you prefer to provide documents electronically as PDF attachments, it is a good idea to provide your covering note as a Word document so that your lawyer can cut and paste your list of documents into correspondence with the other party’s solicitor.

7. Know your filing cabinet. Use this opportunity to get on top of any unfiled paperwork that you have lying around. Then when your lawyer asks you, for example, to provide a detailed employment history including salary information, simply locate your last job application or resume as this will probably contain the relevant information. Not having to “reinvent the wheel” will save you anxiety as well as considerable time and cost.

8. Ask questions. If you do not understand what your lawyer is saying, ask for clarification. If necessary, ask for the advice to be given in writing. This will help you to avoid going over the same ground with your lawyer, thus increasing your legal costs. If you have the right lawyer, no question is the wrong question.

9. Remember that your lawyer is your lawyer. Your family lawyer is passionate about their job, knowledgeable about the law and experienced in helping people who find themselves in stressful and often emotional circumstances. But at the end of the day, your lawyer’s role is to give legal advice. Take the time you need to discuss your matter but understand that your lawyer charges by the hour.

10. Pay your legal fees month by month. Ask to be provided with an account each month so that you know how much your family law matter is costing you. This should ensure that there are no nasty surprises at the end. Your lawyer should be able to provide approximate time-frames for each stage of your matter, and an estimate of fees for each stage. This will make it easier to budget when the bills arrive. Ask if there is someone within the firm that you can contact about your account from time to time on a no-charge basis.

11. Pay your legal fees at the end of the matter. Sometimes, it is not just a matter of saving on legal fees and the real issue is the ability to pay the fees involved. Ask your lawyer if they offer a “pay at the end” payment option. No Win No Fee Family Law is not allowed so instead, Prime Lawyers has developed the “Blue Ribbon” payment option for approved Family Law clients. The “Blue Ribbon” payment option to approved clients is a deferred payment option, where Prime Lawyers’ legal fees are paid once the matter has ended.

To read more about “Blue Ribbon”, or to apply to join many current and former family law clients we have assisted under “Blue Ribbon” visit our Blue Ribbon Payment Option page.

Following these tips should help you and your lawyer to save time and work more efficiently together, thus keeping your costs from increasing unnecessarily.

We have offices in Sydney, Parramatta, Chatswood, Sutherland and Wollongong.