Family Law

family-law-stressed-familyThe legal, emotional and financial decisions involved in a divorce are multifaceted and have a lifelong impact on you and your children. Mark assists his clients with legal issues dealing with Divorce, Separation, Visitation, Child Support, Spousal Support, Property Division, Order Enforcement and Modification, Pre-Marital & Marital Agreements, among other things.

You can trust that Mark T. Blake will work tirelessly to obtain the best results possible in your case, so you and your family can move on with what is most important – life.  Below are some important links to questionnaires that will help us get the process started for you.

The Family Law Process

The most important people on your family law team are you and your attorney. You want to make sure that you retain an attorney who will do the best possible job for you. You also want to make sure that the attorney you retain is someone that you can work with in difficult and stressful circumstances. Mark T. Blake is that attorney.

In some of the more complex cases, we will work closely with other professional advisors,including Certified Financial Planners, Investment Advisors, Financial Consultants, Insurance Professionals, Certified Public Accountants, and Tax Advisors. We believe the team approach provides our clients with the most sophisticated, comprehensive, and effective family law approach possible. Please tell us about your professional advisors so that we can use their skills and knowledge to get you the best result possible.

THE PROCESS

The family law process can vary dramatically depending on the type of family law matter that you have. For example, the process for responding to a divorce filing will vary substantially from the process for filing for protection from domestic violence. The following information is based on a typical dissolution matter.

Step One:

The Initial Consultation: In most cases, during this first meeting, Mark will spend approximately an hour with you. After listening to your needs, plans and goals, Mark will explain the procedures and some general recommendations about your case. If the situation is complex, he will ask for a follow-up meeting to present a summary and specific recommendations.

After making his recommendations, Mark will usually quote a retainer fee. You may then choose to engage Mark by signing an engagement letter and making a deposit of the retainer amount.

Step Two:

Starting the Case or Responding the Initial Filing: Should you decide to go forward, a follow-up meeting to sign the initial legal pleadings and commence the dissolution or other family law matter will be scheduled within a week to ten days. This meeting may be quite lengthy as Mark will thoroughly explain the dissolution or family law legal documents to you. He also will explain the steps to be taken once the case has been commenced.

Step Three:

Follow-Up: We have an extensive follow-up system, which we believe helps build stronger client relationships. Each of our clients will receive status report on a regular basis so that the client knows where they are in the family law process. Also, Mark regularly provides his clients with copies of court documents and other relevant information about the family law matter. Through the status reports and other documents, we attempt to keep our clients informed of anything that might impact their family law matter. In this manner, we hope to ensure that our clients are always aware of everything that is happening in their family law matter. Should anything come up outside of scheduled appointments, Mark is reachable by telephone during business hours. Mark also does his best to respond to all emails within 24 hours.

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