This video is about reasonableness as it relates to the issues of attorney’s fees and costs in a family law case.
These are some examples of where the judge could rule that the other party has to cover the attorney’s fees and costs in their custody case.
A. If you're representing yourself in your custody trial, then you may have to pay for some or all of the other parties attorney’s fees and cost.
B. Are the parties being reasonable in their positions. Are they taking positions that cause the case to drag out which will cause extensive litigation.
C. Are you not following the rules regarding discovery? Are you not providing the other side with discovery papers on time or not responding at all?
D. Is the other party offering a settlement offer? Are you attempting to respond with a reasonable settlement offer or attempting to make reasonable settlement offers on your own?
E. Are you exhibiting poor conduct or doing things that the court would frown upon? One example I had in other video when one parent was trying to coach a child to prepare for the child’s court ordered evaluation. As a result he awarded attorneys fees and costs.
F. Is their one party that is making more money than the other? Or is one parent the stay at home parent who doesn’t work and whose full time job is taking care of the child? In this case it might be reasonable that the judge will have the party whose income is higher to pay for attorney’s fees.
These are just a few examples. It’s important to research the laws in your state or jurisdiction and find out what your laws have to say regarding attorney’s fees.
Wendy Hernandez is a family law attorney in Phoenix, AZ and founder of Command the Courtroom which teaches you how to handle yourself in court and achieve the best outcome when representing yourself in your divorce or child custody case.
