Mountain Brook Divorce Lawyers & Divorce Attorneys

Divorce is never easy, but if you and your spouse have managed to come to a mutual agreement regarding important issues such as property division, child support, visitation, and other matters arising from the marriage, then our Mountain Brook divorce lawyers can work with you to obtain a cheap and quick divorce. If a mutual agreement hasn’t been reached, then our local divorce attorneys can help you file a contested divorce.

Contested divorces are much more costly and take much longer than uncontested divorces, but if no agreement can be reached it is the only way to get awarded what you need by the judge. Divorces in Jefferson County specifically are easier and simpler when they are filed as uncontested.  Our Mountain Brook divorce attorneys are currently offering discounted flat fees for uncontested divorces in  Jefferson County, and throughout Central Alabama.

The uncontested divorce n Mountain Brook may require additional fees if there are substantial property or tax considerations involved, business interests, paternity issues, retirement issues, or any other complex issues that would require more time of the attorney. There is also a filing fee that the county charges when a divorce is filed. This filing fee varies from county to county. Give our Mountain Brook divorce lawyer a call today for more information about the filing fee in your county.

Enlisting the help of an experienced and knowledgeable Mountain Brook divorce lawyer is crucial to having reliable counsel through the process and ensuring you file all the paperwork and documents properly.  For divorces in Jefferson County, feel free to reach out to our office so we can go over details like fees, what will be required to begin the process and other aspects over the phone. Should you and your spouse be ready for a quick and cheap divorce in Mountain Brook, an uncontested divorce is our recommendation.

This is an option for couples who have reached agreements on all marital issues and will just need to fill out paperwork and provide certain documents to proceed. To begin, we will have you fill out a simple questionnaire explaining what you have agreed to (along with additional information necessary to prepare all of the required forms and documents) and our Mountain Brook divorce attorneys need you to return it to us in order to get the process started.

The process of filing for an uncontested divorce is fairly simple. When you call us, then our Mountain Brook divorce attorney can answer any questions you may have over the phone and an in office consultation is usually not necessary.  However, both you and your spouse must have reached an agreement in order to file for an uncontested divorce.

If an agreement cannot be reached and you wish to get divorced, then you will likely have to file a contested divorce.  This is where one party files for divorce and serves the other party with the divorce paperwork.  The other spouse, once served, has a limited amount of time to respond and if they do not, then the filing party may be able to receive their divorce by default.  If the other party does respond, then there will usually be hearings set and a contested divorce will begin.  A contested divorce continues until both parties either reach an agreement as to all contested issues or have a trial and let the judge in their case decide these issues for them.

Our Mountain Brook divorce lawyer can help you get a contested divorce, but the fees are much higher. Our Mountain Brook divorce lawyer requires a retainer up front in most cases. The divorce attorney then bills out of that retainer at an hourly rate until he or she has worked enough so that the retainer is empty. At that point you have to refill the retainer in order for the attorney to keep working on the case. Call us today and speak with our Mountain Brook divorce attorney who will conduct a quick phone consultation and quote you a retainer fee for your particular case.

It is always cheaper and simpler to reach an agreement beforehand and file an uncontested divorce, but if that is not possible then call our Mountain Brook divorce lawyers to discuss the contested divorce process in your county.

Even in a quick and easy uncontested divorce, each county can have different document requirements, so it is important to have a local divorce lawyer file your cheap divorce in Mountain Brook, Alabama.  If you reside in Mountain Brook, then your divorce will most likely be filed in Jefferson County Domestic Relations Court which has specific divorce requirements that other counties may not have.  For example, when filing a divorce in Baldwin County, Jefferson County, or anywhere else there are certain documents that must have language included in them that are unique to that county.

If you are filing a cheap divorce in Jefferson County, then there are very specific requirements concerning when your divorce documents should be signed and filed.  If these requirements are not met, and the proper motions and other pleadings are not filed in the proper way, then they are likely to dismiss your case and you will have to file it all over again.

If you are using an online divorce document preparation program, then they will usually not have such county specific language in them and it can cause your divorce to be dismissed by the judge assigned to your case.  Our Mountain Brook divorce lawyers are familiar with all of these local rules and will work to ensure that all documents are filed correctly and in compliance with the local rules.  This is why an actual Mountain Brook uncontested divorce attorney is necessary and having a national online document preparation company prepare your divorce documents may not be the best decision.

If you need a divorce in Bessemer, Trussville, Homewood, Fultondale, or Gardendale then you will most likely be filing in Jefferson County.  If you live in Mountain Brook you will likely file your divorce in the Jefferson County Courts.  If you call our Mountain Brook divorce attorneys today, then we can answer any questions you may have, including helping to determine what courthouse to file your divorce in.

Another type of divorce we handle is contested divorce. Contested divorce is filed when a mutual agreement is not reached beforehand and you have your spouse served with the Complaint. Typically, following the serving, the spouse finds an attorney to represent them and files a response. Hearings are then set and your disagreements are ultimately decided by a judge.

At The Harris Firm, our divorce lawyers will help you file a contested divorce properly. Unlike the uncontested route, the contested divorce attorney fees are significantly higher. As most family law firms do, our divorce attorneys in Mountain Brook require a retainer for contested divorce services. The lawyer then bills hourly and the amount billed each month, of course, depends on the amount of work performed.

When there are minor children involved in your contested divorce, retainers are generally more than without children, however there are other factors that affect your retainer quote in the end. Feel free to reach out to our office today. We can go over your case and inform you of the retainer required up front to begin working on your case.  If you live in Mountain Brook or the surrounding areas within Jefferson County, then you will likely be filing in the Jefferson County Courts.

Our local Mountain Brook divorce attorney regularly files divorces in Jefferson and Shelby County. He is a member of the local Birmingham Bar Association and the Central Alabama Better Business Bureau.  If you call our Mountain Brook divorce lawyer today, then we can answer any questions you may have, including helping to determine what courthouse to file your divorce in.