Once you have decided to hire your family law attorney and scheduled the first meeting, you will want to prepare to use your time efficiently. Choosing to divorce is a difficult step and the process can be lengthy. However, the more prepared you are, the less time your attorney spends trying to get documents and information from you. This ends up saving you time and money. 
Attorney emails and phone calls can add up billable hours quickly. To avoid that from the beginning, we will go over key information for you to bring with you to your first meeting.
We recommend writing down all this information in a notebook or binder that you can continue to add to after each meeting with your attorney. Staying organized helps the process move in a timely manner.
Personal Information
In your notebook, write down all your biographical information and personal information. This includes your full name, address, all phone numbers, employment name and address, and date of birth. You will also want to write down your spouse’s full name, address, all phone numbers, employment name and address, date of birth, driver’s license number, and social security number.
Your Tulsa family law attorney will also need your date of marriage. If you have children bring their date(s) of birth, names and sexes.
Lastly, bring your driver’s license and social security card with you to the first meeting.
Marriage Narrative
Chances are that you already had a consultation with your family law attorney, so they know the general issues that will come up in your divorce. However, taking some time to write a narrative of your marriage in more detail will help your attorney anticipate the legal issues that may arise during the process.
In your narrative, you want to include the history of your relationship. Describe yourself and your spouse and what kind of partners you were. If there were marital problems in the past make sure to indicate what those were and if there are any current marital issues – perhaps the issues that led to the divorce.
Discuss your children and the relationship they have with you and your spouse. Include what you believe your strengths and weaknesses are as well as your spouse’s.
This does not need to be long, nor does it need to include every detail of your relationship. Try to frame the story in a way that will help your family law attorney handle your case and predict any issues that may arise.
Financial Information
It is not necessary to bring stacks of financial documents or bank statements. The first meeting is to help your Tulsa family law attorney understand the main issues, and how you can best manage the divorce. You will need to provide an initial payment, or retainer, and make arrangements for additional costs as they arise. Be honest with your attorney about your ability to pay.
Your attorney will eventually need to know what assets you have, such as balances in your bank accounts, retirement accounts, IRAs, property, vehicles, and anything else of significant value. You will be required to honestly disclose this information to the court and to your spouse’s attorney as the basis for an eventual divorce settlement.
Also make sure to write down your significant debt, such as a mortgage, credit cards, and any other loans, as well as your monthly expenses. You don’t have to account for every dollar, but a general understanding of your monthly expenses will be helpful during this first meeting.
For the first meeting, it is not necessary to bring your tax returns. However, eventually your attorney will need your last two year’s tax returns and year-to-date employment pay stubs. Collecting this now will save a lot of time later.
Free Consultation with a Tulsa Divorce Lawyer
Being prepared is not just required of your attorney, but you should require this of yourself. Having this information well documented, written out, and within reach will make you a client every attorney wants to have.
It is too often that attorneys are trying to track down financial information from their clients. Having this information ready has the potential to save you a significant amount of attorney fees.
Contact an experienced Tulsa divorce lawyer when you need to go through the Oklahoma divorce process. For a free confidential consultation, call 918-924-5526.
