Dodge, TX Divorce Law Firms & Lawyers

Yes, you can file an emergency motion for continuance at any time, including three days before your trial begins.  You will need to describe in detail the emergency and support the factual allegations with an affidavit or declaration.The fault issues and domestic violence issues should be raised in your pleadings and do not need to be raised in the motion unless they are germane to the emergency requiring a continuance.  To be clear, only learning recently that you have grounds for a fault-based divorce based on past conduct you witnessed or experienced does not constitute an emergency.  Past domestic violence that you experienced or witnessed, similarly, does not constitute an emergency.An example of a good ground to support an emergency motion for continuance might be that you have recently been hospitalized and do not expect to be released from the hospital before your trial is scheduled to begin.  If you have been hospitalized because of a recent domestic violence incident, then that incident would be germane to the emergency.

A typical divorce attorney charges anywhere between $300-600 per hour depending upon the lawyer's level of experience, location, and current workload.Many divorce attorneys offer an initial consultation for a flat fee.  A few may offer free consultations, but my advice is to steer clear of those.  I personally offer a 90-minute initial consultation for a low flat fee of $500.  This is fairly representative of what to expect in the North Texas area.The amount of your initial retainer depends on the complexity of your marital estate, whether there are minor children, the county where you live, and how aggressively you anticipate your husband will be in any divorce proceeding.  For a relatively simple divorce without children involving a straightforward marital estate, I routinely request an initial retainer of $5,000.  If the parties are in relative agreement and disagreements do not arise regarding issues the spouses haven't thought of before filing and the spouses put in the legwork instead of requiring a paralegal or attorney to hunt down information from third party sources, we can occasionally complete a divorce for that sum of money depending on the court the case is assigned to.  This is not typical, however.Ordinarily, funds from the community estate will be used to pay for each party's attorney.  If one spouse does not have access to those funds, the court can order interim attorney fees to be paid from any account that is part of the parties' marital estate.