Berkeley Heights, NJ Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

If your husband married someone else without first being divorced from you, he committed bigamy, which is a criminal offense.  Even if you and your husband have been separated for some time, if you have not received a Judgment of Divorce, he is still your husband and entitled to benefits as your husband, including, but not limited to, a share in your estate should you pass away before he does, social security benefits and others.  A divorce ensures your rights and interests are protected going forward.  The attorneys at Weinberger Law Group are experienced in representing clients through sensitive issues like yours and through divorce.  We are happy to assist you and make the divorce process as smooth as possible.  The attorneys at Weinberger Law Group offer a free initial consultation and can speak with you about your rights and options.  Call today (855-548-2157) to schedule your free initial consultation.

It may be appropriate to request your ex-spouse pay the difference between $1,200 and $785 per month, particularly based on the terms of your Settlement Agreement and under the unique circumstances of your case. If your ex-spouse is unwilling to do so voluntarily, you may need to file a motion to ask the court to order your ex-spouse to pay the $415 per month. The attorneys at Weinberger Law Group offer a free initial consultation.  I urge you to call today and schedule an appointment with one of our attorneys.  Bring with you to your appointment a copy of your Settlement Agreement, Judgment of Divorce and any documents you have regarding your ex-spouse's pension.  The attorneys at Weinberger Law Group are happy to consult with you and discuss this matter with you in more detail as well as to strategize with you about your next steps.  Call (855) 548-2157 today to schedule your appointment.

The first question is whether or not the information was pertinent to your case. If it was, then the next question is whether or not the billing was reasonable. In most law offices .1 hrs is the minimum billing unit (6 minutes) and most fee agreements will spell that out rather clearly, it simply is too cumbersome to try and bill in units of less than tenths of an hour. It sounds like you had three billing increments of .2, .1, and .1 with an attorney billing rate of $350 per hour, which is about the minimum possible billing for something like what you have described. In my practice, I frequently round these down or combine something like this into one entry, but some people insist on seeing every individual charge, which is your right as the client. If this truly bothers you, then you and your attorney should have a meeting regarding going forward because in most cases billing entries like this are very common and you and your attorney are likely going to run into a number of difficulties in the future if you find this billing to be "ridiculous". You have not mentioned how far you are in the proceedings, but in the scheme of most litigation an entry of .4 hours is a small fraction of the overall cost. I am a sole partner and owner of my firm so I have the ability to absorb or give a courtesy to the client for entries like this but depending on the content or nature of the information exchanged in your 10 sentences I would consider the billing within the bounds of reasonable. Obviously if it had little to no bearing on any issue in your case, this would be a different story. You certainly have a right to ask to have the amount reduced, but if one of my clients questioned my bills over something like this, I would likely refund whatever retainer was remaining and request that they find different representation because the two of you are obviously not on the same page.