What Will My Divorce Cost? One of the first questions people ask when hiring a lawyer is how much will it cost? While we cannot guarantee what your total cost will be (as it depends on your own individual facts and circumstances), the guidelines below will give you an estimate. Our hourly fees are $280 for attorneys and $115 for paralegals. We generally require a retainer payment at the first client meeting between $3,500 and $5,500. We accept payments via credit card, cash or check. Uncontested Divorce – Estimate of Cost for Legal Fees Uncontested without children – $1,500 – $3,500 Uncontest ..read more

Iowa Divorce with Children or Custody Case – Mandatory Children Cope Class Information – In any action which involves child custody or visitation, the parties are to take a court-approved education course designed to help the parties understand the needs of the children during and after the court proceeding. Below is a list of classes available in Northwest Iowa for 2021. All classes are currently being held via Zoom. January 2021 Friday Jan 8th 6:00-10:00 pm Saturday Jan 9th 1:15-5:15 pm Saturday Jan 16th 1:15-5:15 pm Thursday Jan 21st 6:00-10:00 pm Saturday Jan 23rd 1:15-5:45 pm February 202 ..read more

To view a typical court ordered visitation schedule for holidays (in Iowa) see below Holiday Parenting Schedule The post Holiday Visitation or Parenting Time Schedule appeared first on www.siouxcitydivorcelawyer.com ..read more

Interesting article by Amy Rees Anderson from Forbes.com discussing the pitfalls of hiring a “cheap” lawyer. One of the biggest mistakes I made early on as an entrepreneur was hiring cheap lawyers or not using an expensive lawyer nearly enough, thinking I was saving money for my business. But over the years, the school of hard knocks taught me just how expensive cheap legal help can be. I don’t recall ever meeting anyone who actually enjoys writing a check to an attorney. Frankly I can’t recall meeting many people who enjoy lawyers at all – not the individuals themselves, but the idea of havin ..read more

In Iowa (and to a lesser extent South Dakota and Nebraska), shared physical care is becoming more and more common. Shared physical care parenting time schedules vary from family to family.  One of the more common schedules involves the children rotating between the parents homes on a weekly basis (with the opposite parent having one evening of mid-week visitation). Other common schedules are as follows: 5/5/2/2 Shared Physical Care Parenting Schedule ************SUN        MON      TUES      WED &nbs ..read more

A must read for anyone going through a divorce. Facebook posts are commonly used in divorce proceedings so don’t post anything that you do not want the Judge to see. Leanne Italie of the Associated Press writes: Forgot to de-friend your wife on Facebook while posting vacation shots of your mistress? Her divorce lawyer will be thrilled. Oversharing on social networks has led to an overabundance of evidence in divorce cases. The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says 81 percent of its members have used or faced evidence plucked from Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other social networking si ..read more

Collaborative Divorce is discussed on this Today Show clip. The International Academy of Collaborative Law Professionals also provides a good video link below – wherein a couple discusses their experience with Collaborative Divorce. www.collaborativepractice.com The post Collaborative Divorce appeared first on www.siouxcitydivorcelawyer.com ..read more

The Iowa Supreme Court held that father was properly awarded joint physical care notwithstanding mother’s testimony alleging communication problems and the parties contentious relationship. The court gave deference to the district court’s finding that mother’s testimony lacked credibility. The court noted that the children had thrived under the joint physical care arrangement for the past two years, i.e. the daughter was doing well in school, the son was developing well for his age, both children benefited from frequent contact with both parents, and both parents had been actively involved in ..read more