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Colorado Divorce Planning
by: Jean Mahserjian
could prove to be a complicated undertaking. You might be stunned if your partner tells you that he or she will be pursuing a divorce. What is more, you might come home someday to an empty home and a message, with your partner and kids gone. If that happens, you might be incapable of doing any Colorado divorce and separation planning yourself. Of course, your partner could have schemed excellently and you could see that belongings have been converted and secreted or expended over a period of time, or that a move was conscientiously orchestrated using the help of counsel with the purpose to bootstrap a custody issue. Though that kind of orchestrated underhanded preparation rarely takes place, it does take place and should be a warning to any individual who is weighing a Colorado divorce: preparation and strategies are critical and ought to be considered by everybody. To make sure that you are doing the best Colorado divorce and separation preparation and employing the right legal tactics, you may need the assistance of a lawyer. An experienced Colorado family lawyer has gone through it all. He or she has handled enough cases to understand what strategies might be practiced by the adversary, what strategies are effective, and which strategies would work for your family situation. Using tactics and planning does not dictate that you are setting up divorce litigation. It signals that you are aware of the facts necessary to proceed with your suit, your goals and that you have carefully strategized how to get where you want to go. A practiced settlement dialogue will not take place without a lot of thought and preparation. Some clients fail to see the genuine value obtained from their lawyer. Actually, many clients will claim that they did the necessary work in obtain information or in getting information to their lawyer, only to be confronted with a large invoice, and they want to know why. The "why" is because of the Colorado lawyer's level of experience and number of years practicing and the lawyer's ability to work out your tactics to get the result that you desire. The tactics and planning that you should undertake before starting a Colorado divorce do make a difference to the end result of your case. There are some things that everybody will have to undertake, like obtaining your various economic documents. Many planning and strategy issues are very specific to your own case, such as, the history of your married life and your situation at the time. Whatever your personal circumstances, your preparation must be undertaken after thorough consideration of all your facts and a thorough conversation about your goals with your lawyer. Various individuals facing the same circumstances could use different Colorado divorce plans simply because they are focused on different results. If obtaining a negotiated settlement and not going to Court are what you want, your lawyer could have to engage in different maneuvers than if you want the end result to be determined by the court. If your lawyer has obtained all of your facts and is familiar with the results your require, they will be able to prepare a tactical outline that should meet your goals. Since divorce or separation is frequently a battle over money, getting all of the relevant information about your family finances will be a very important task. You must have copies of three or four years income tax returns, your w-2 and your spouse's w-2 from each employer for each of those years. If you do not know where to locate those documents, you can get duplicates from the IRS. If you are obtaining these records secretly and do not want your partner to find out that you are engaging in divorce or separation planning, ask that your tax returns be mailed to your business office address, a friend, or to your lawyer. A chronicle of your years together while married is very important to other matters that your Colorado divorce or separation lawyer might need to take care of for you. Many lawyers request that you supply some sort of outline to assist them in taking care of your case. If your lawyer does not require one, you should prepare one anyway. The effort that you put into that outline may help your lawyer on matter like fault, custody of the children, and support, and it may save your lawyer preparation time for your lawsuit and thus, reduce your legal fees. The more effort you put into obtaining, and preparing important facts and documents for your Colorado divorce or separation lawyer, the less effort you will expend in your lawyer's office reviewing those issues. Perhaps your attorney will spend less time on fact finding and more of your funds will then be spent on planning and preparation. About the author: Attorney Jean Mahserjian is the author of numerous websites and books devoted to helping consumers through the process of separation and divorce. To download free excerpts from her family law books, visit: http://www.millenniumdivorce.com Circulated by Article Emporium

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