What to expect from my first appointment with a lawyer from John R. Quinn and Co.

When you attend an appointment with a lawyer from John R. Quinn and Co you have the opportunity of discussing with them any matters of concern you have about your marriage, separation and/or divorce. Legal advice given to you may include answers to your questions about:

• how a property settlement is achieved
• spousal maintenance and child support
• arrangements to be made for the children (previously called child custody and contact)
• how agreements are formalised ( Consent Orders or Binding Financial Agreements)

To enable us to provide you with a preliminary view as to your legal rights and entitlements according to the law it will assist if you could prepare a chronology prior to the initial appointment. This chronology would set out:

• date of marriage
• date of birth of yourself and your partner
• date of birth of children
• present arrangements for the children
• what assets, income and liabilities you and your partner had at the time your relationship commenced
• when and what assets were acquired during the relationship
• when assets were sold during the relationship and what happened to the proceeds of sale of such assets
• whether either of you or your partner received inheritances, compensation payouts or redundancies
• any periods of separation during the relationship
• what are the assets and liabilities of the parties
• What are the superannuation entitlements of the parties
• approximate present income of the parties

Although we realise you may not be able to provide all this information when you attend your first appointment, the more information you give us will assist us in providing you with our legal advice as to the possible or probable outcomes of your matter. Such advice will be given during the course of the first interview.

We shall also discuss with you the various options available to you to resolve your matter. You then have the opportunity of considering such advice and to consider how you wish to proceed.  Some of our clients are then able to attempt to try to resolve issues directly with the other party. However, we strongly advise that the correct legal documents are prepared to finalise any such agreements between the parties.

We can assist in such discussions with your partner and if you need the assistance of other professionals such as accountants (if there is an issue as to the value of companies or other financial issues) we can assist you with the appropriate questions you need to ask them in order to progress your matter.

Further professionals such as valuers, counsellors and so on may be necessary and we will assist you in this process. You will leave the initial appointment with clear and informed advice and options available to you so that you can make an informed decision as to how to proceed towards a property settlement and decisions about your children’s welfare.

The benefits of obtaining clear and professional advice from one of Sydney’s leading family law firms with three highly experienced family lawyers is that we will assist you moving forward to achieve a property settlement and children’s arrangements as quickly as possible.

Our offices are conveniently located in the Sydney CBD opposite Hyde Park and just a few blocks from the Family Court. Your first appointment is a very reasonable fee and we spend up to 2 hours with all new clients, according to each client’s needs.