FJAG
Army.ca Legend
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I've followed this thread for a while and have tried to stay out of it but unfortunately I'm allowing myself to be sucked into it.
Just to provide full disclosure: before I retired, I practised law, primarily civil litigation, with a fair percentage of family law as well, for twenty years.
Opcougar. Your opening premise in this thread was:
To put it succinctly; that is pure :bullshit:.
Family law goes far beyond filling out a few forms and reading a few articles on the web. The fact of the matter is that there are tens of thousands of family law cases on CANLII, hundreds of federal and provincial statutes that deal with family law and related matters and thousands of articles on the topic (some written by very brilliant people; some written by complete morons). To expect someone who has never practised law to be able to find the few nuggets that apply to their case amongst that plethora of material is akin to the proverbial hunt to find the needle in the haystack. Do you really want to encourage people to go on that hunt knowing that not finding the needle can end up having them lose their kids, their house or their bank accounts?
Here's the thing. Most people, if they're lucky, are never divorced--or maybe just once. They can't possibly ever get sufficient experience to represent themselves well; even if they are able to "read, write and back up statements with facts." It's a bit like going into battle and all the guys in your platoon learned their military skills by playing video games and watching war movies.
Look folks. Not every family law case is a $50,000 affair. I used to do uncontested divorces for $500.00-$750.00. Those were cases where the couple worked out the key details. For my fee, I drafted the documents, advised them of the relevant law regarding children, child support, pension and asset splitting and all those things where the law makes very specific provisions as to what should happen, obtained appropriate disclosure of pension valuations and income disclosure for setting guideline support, and finally marshalled the case through court in order to obtain the appropriate decrees. The price has probably gone up a bit since I left practice but most lawyers still handle uncontested divorces for a reasonable sum.
The cost of a divorce goes up dramatically when the couple can't agree to settle things. All too often in a divorce, at least one party hates the other's guts and will do anything to hurt him/her. This is frequently seen when one of the parties refuses to retain a lawyer or to listen to their lawyer's advice. At the beginning of those cases it's about the "principle and not the money". Let me tell you that at the end of the case it's "always about the money".
I know that there are lawyers of varying abilities and frequently (but not always) the better lawyers are the more expensive. The trick is finding one that you trust to look after your interest (which includes saving you costs).
Opcougar. I don't know your background or how your case really went in court but from the nature of your repetitive posts I take away the impression that this topic has become somewhat of a crusade for you. You've made your point several times over; stop pushing and let the OP make their own decision.
:cheers:
Just to provide full disclosure: before I retired, I practised law, primarily civil litigation, with a fair percentage of family law as well, for twenty years.
Opcougar. Your opening premise in this thread was:
opcougar said:
To put it succinctly; that is pure :bullshit:.
Family law goes far beyond filling out a few forms and reading a few articles on the web. The fact of the matter is that there are tens of thousands of family law cases on CANLII, hundreds of federal and provincial statutes that deal with family law and related matters and thousands of articles on the topic (some written by very brilliant people; some written by complete morons). To expect someone who has never practised law to be able to find the few nuggets that apply to their case amongst that plethora of material is akin to the proverbial hunt to find the needle in the haystack. Do you really want to encourage people to go on that hunt knowing that not finding the needle can end up having them lose their kids, their house or their bank accounts?
Here's the thing. Most people, if they're lucky, are never divorced--or maybe just once. They can't possibly ever get sufficient experience to represent themselves well; even if they are able to "read, write and back up statements with facts." It's a bit like going into battle and all the guys in your platoon learned their military skills by playing video games and watching war movies.
Look folks. Not every family law case is a $50,000 affair. I used to do uncontested divorces for $500.00-$750.00. Those were cases where the couple worked out the key details. For my fee, I drafted the documents, advised them of the relevant law regarding children, child support, pension and asset splitting and all those things where the law makes very specific provisions as to what should happen, obtained appropriate disclosure of pension valuations and income disclosure for setting guideline support, and finally marshalled the case through court in order to obtain the appropriate decrees. The price has probably gone up a bit since I left practice but most lawyers still handle uncontested divorces for a reasonable sum.
The cost of a divorce goes up dramatically when the couple can't agree to settle things. All too often in a divorce, at least one party hates the other's guts and will do anything to hurt him/her. This is frequently seen when one of the parties refuses to retain a lawyer or to listen to their lawyer's advice. At the beginning of those cases it's about the "principle and not the money". Let me tell you that at the end of the case it's "always about the money".
I know that there are lawyers of varying abilities and frequently (but not always) the better lawyers are the more expensive. The trick is finding one that you trust to look after your interest (which includes saving you costs).
Opcougar. I don't know your background or how your case really went in court but from the nature of your repetitive posts I take away the impression that this topic has become somewhat of a crusade for you. You've made your point several times over; stop pushing and let the OP make their own decision.
:cheers:
