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Here is some great reasons why you might need to hire a Lawyer

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Hiring a lawyer is often a need rather than a want – here’s why.

1. You’re too close to the action

In all areas of law, but particularly family law, high emotion can obscure sensible paths of action. Ask any senior family law practitioner and you will hear stories of people so blinded by hatred for their ex-spouses that they would prefer to spend every last cent ruining their former partner… often at the expense of the future financial security of their children.

It’s easy to sit back and shake our heads in dismay at people who behave like this but the truth is that every last one of us is susceptible to lapses in judgment when emotions such as rage, despair and even passionate love start pumping through our veins.

To a large extent your lawyer is immune to whatever powerful emotional experience you are going through and can offer you objective, calm and clear guidance. Your lawyer is the person sitting on top of the main sail who can see an enemy ship or land approaching when all you can see is fog. This trait of lawyers is in itself enough to recommend their services.

2. Do you know the rules of evidence?

In Australia there is much legislation, case law and custom describing what is and is not evidence. If you think you can write down your entire story in an affidavit, swear it in front of a lawyer or Justice of the Peace and hand this up to the court with no dramas, you’re mistaken.

Judges have been known to fly into rages when presented with incoherent and confusing material lacking in evidential value, and rightly so. Our justice system is expensive to maintain and overloaded so if you waste a judge’s time through your own ignorance of Australian rules of evidence, you are doing a disservice to the courts, yourself and Australia as a whole.

Your lawyer has been trained for years to understand the rules of evidence so if you tell your story to a lawyer, your family lawyer can help you frame your story in such a way that it avoids mentioning points that are irrelevant and impermissible as evidence and focuses on only that information which will help you get to where you want to be.

3. A lawyer may be required by legislation

In the case of Binding Financial Decisions (such as prenuptial, cohabitation and separation agreements), the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) provides that signatories to such agreements must seek independent legal advice before the agreement will be considered binding.

In these situations clearly it is imperative that legal advice is sought from a solicitor.

4. Mistakes can be costly

Mistakes can actually be more costly than your legal fees. In fact, that’s the whole idea… you pay your lawyer a fee to maximise your chances of ‘winning’ or in other words ‘ensuring your legal rights are protected’. If you go it alone and you walk face first into a legal trap, you may have saved a few thousand dollars in legal fees but cost yourself tens of thousands in the long run.

In family law cases, the costs of legal ignorance are often far more than financial. If you want to maximise your chances of seeing your children as often as you would like and to ensure the family home remains a safe haven for your children, failing to achieve these aims simply because you didn’t know your legal rights will have ramifications far beyond your bank balance.

Look at your lawyer as a walking, talking and wise insurance policy. Your legal fees are your insurance premiums and if you run into legal problems your lawyer will use his or her immense skills to get you back on track.

5. A lawyer has legal experience

Unless you are a lawyer, you won’t have as much legal experience as your lawyer… this sounds trite and obvious, but it’s true and very important.

In Australia lawyers are trained for years before they are even permitted to give legal advice to a client and if you are dealing with a lawyer who has been practising law for several years, he or she has not only been upgrading legal skills through compulsory continuing legal education but has been on the front line of providing legal advice to a wide variety of people with an array of unique problems.

Your lawyer can bring this immense knowledge and practical experience together in the form of ‘legal wisdom’ to show you the path to a place where ideally you won’t have to hire a lawyer again!