Divorce

Marriage Dissolution is what I sometimes refer to as the proctology of the legal profession.  Bitterness, resentment, and outright anger turns two people who once loved each other into outright enemies.  They make false allegations of spousal abuse and sometimes even drop the nuclear bomb of all allegations – a false child molestation accusation.  Some of my colleagues refer to family court as the “Palace of Perjury.”  Because of all of this, what should be simple divorce turns into a criminal domestic violence case complete with anger management, child counseling, expensive custody evaluations, and supervised visits with a certified monitor, just to mention a few.  

For a more detailed look at the Los Angeles – Orange County divorce system watch Divorce Corp on Netflex.  It is true to life documentary which is actually a sad commentary on our broken system.  But even with all that said, from my experience in over 400 family law matters I can honestly say reasonable parties who have reasonable expectations coupled with reasonable attorneys who can work within a litigation budget can have a good divorce.  Helping broken couples achieve a good divorce is why Lindley Law is in business.  

Services Available

Lindley law realizes every divorce is different and therefor offers services to fit your particular need. Services include working with couples who wish to collaboratively to dissolve their marriage to working with just one party on cases that are more contentious.

There are basically three different types of divorcing couples who hire me.  

1:  The couple who both agree on most every thing but need help with all the paperwork to submit to the court.  They also need some basic explanation as to the law and divorce procedure.  This type of couple I encourage to come in together since I will be a neutral attorney who can answer both your legal questions (paralegals and regular document assistants cannot), and fill out and file all the paperwork needed for your divorce without you or your wife needing to go to court.  Usually I’m able to do all the work on a case like this for about $2,000 to $3,000. In these types of cases my role is mainly that of a scrivener.

2:  The couple who does not agree on every thing, but wants to work together with me to come to a fair divorce settlement.  They want an amicable divorce without going to court and all the stress and expense that goes with it.  (Each hiring their own private attorney and who know what other expenses may arise).   I act a neutral who explains the law and analyzes the facts of each disagreement they have and make recommendations. I give them my prediction (based on the family code, case law, and my experience) on how a judge would rule on any particular issue. I try the best I can to nudge either or both of them to compromise a bit by breaking down the cost in attorney fees and time that would result if they were unable to agree on that issue. Often times each of the spouse consults privately with another attorney of their choice to double check what I am telling them. That is fine. I’ve been employed in that capacity as well.  In these types of cases my role is that of a mediator.  Couples in this type of situation are also encouraged to come in together. While there is no way to estimate how much this will end up costing, it is fair to say that this will cost considerably less than that of a litigated divorce. 

3:  The couple who doesn’t agree on anything and believes their spouse is unreasonable.  Cases where there are domestic violence issues, child abuse accusations, major control issues, and the like. This types of couples need to lawyer up with their own lawyer and should not come to me together for a consultation. My role for this type of couple is that of alitigator. Cases like these need to be litigated – at least to a point. While many cases in the beginning are high conflict, most of the time, after discovery has been completed and a few tentative or temporary orders have been made, couples begin to give and take a little and end up settling before a full-blown trial is scheduled to be held.