Those who get divorced often need legal assistance. We tell you what you need to watch out for.
If you want to get divorced, you do not necessarily need to consult a lawyer. If you and your partner agree on how the separation should proceed, that no maintenance should be paid and that no gain should be divided, then you certainly do not need legal assistance. It is sufficient to conclude a divorce settlement with a notary. This can also stipulate, for example, the transfer of the property. In the end, this is much cheaper than a dispute in court, where legal fees are incurred in addition to lawyers' fees.
However, amicable settlements are the exception. Separation and divorce are usually accompanied by disputes. If there are joint children, the separation phase becomes even more complex because there are also questions about custody and access rights. In this case, you should definitely seek legal assistance from a lawyer who specialises in divorce or family law, or from a family law specialist. In addition to questions of maintenance, this often also involves the joint property and the question of who should continue to live in it, who should move out and where the children will live in the future.
In Germany, about 150,000 marriages are divorced every year. There are 9,685 specialist lawyers for family law available for this. This makes this specialist area the second largest after labour law, with 10,265 licensed lawyers (source: Federal Bar Association; figures for 2017). The number of all admitted lawyers has increased significantly in recent years, from 56,638 to 163,772 between 1990 and 2016. With this abundance, it should not be a problem to find an expert in your area.
When looking for a divorce lawyer, you can listen to your circle of friends and acquaintances. Perhaps someone has already needed a lawyer for a family dispute or divorce and has had good experiences. A divorce lawyer does not necessarily have to be a specialist lawyer for family law; lawyers without this additional qualification who have specialised in this field of law for many years can also provide professional legal assistance.
You should check your potential lawyer's website to see how long he has been dealing with divorce cases, whether he has a lot of legal information on this subject area, publishes recent judgements on this area of law on his homepage etc.
Of course, the chemistry between you and your potential legal advisor should also be right. You will certainly be able to assess this during a non-binding initial consultation. A divorce is a crisis situation with many ups and downs, so mutual trust is essential.
Besides the many things you have to take care of in this difficult situation, you don't have time to sell your property? Contact us now, we will be happy to do it for you.
Photo: Rawpixel
