I am looking for a legal advice on a possible divorce with my wife, who has already hired some kind of lawyer and is now threatening me with "charging me for a lot of money".
Searching the forum gave me a lot of useful info on what to expect, so now I am asking for any first-hand experience with English-speaking divorce law specialists in Zürich . I want to start with a consultation and maybe continue with a legal representation.
What I want to know is: how much should I expect to pay for an initial consultation? For a mediation process? For a full court process? How much should I expect to pay after a possible separation? Divorce? Why should one go for a separation instead of a divorce?
Any feedback on the questions above or advice on lawyers is very appreciated.
Background, if it matters: L permit holders (likely to become B this year), married for less than 2 years, have a 1.5 year child. I am the only working person in the family.
It sounds like your wife is very angry with you - is she willing to consider marriage counselling and mediation? And I am talking the 'relationship type' not the 'money' sort...
If you are both Non-EU and she is the 'dependent spouse' you need to sort out very quickly in your mind whether you will want her to take the child and return to their home country...or whether she intends to stay, or whether you want to return to your home country...the steps you take and the compromises made will have a big impact on what sort of relationship you wish to maintain with your child...
You also need to work out (very quickly) whether divorce proceedings will be initiated in Switzerland or in our home country, and how long you plan to be in Switzerland...even if it was amicable (and it does not sound like it at all) and straighforward (with a child in the middle not likely)... There are many parts.
- separation ...when the married couple are no longer 'together'...this can begin informally, but there will need to be some sort of agreement about living arrangements, time spent with child, rent and living costs.
- divorce... Legally declaring the marriage ended.
- custody (of the child, can be joint) and living arrangements for the day to day life of the child.
- settlement of assets (depends greatly on what you have, what you had before marriage, and how hard the sides are going to fight...fighting does not necessarily mean winning more...the longer it goes on the bigger slice the lawyers will take.
- maintenance/ongoing payment of costs for the upkeep of the child and ex.
Either way, a few thousand spent on marriage and relationship counselling at this point may be a very good 'investment'...
The current state is that we are both seeking separation, not a way to save the marriage.
This will most probably be settled in Switzerland, that's why I am asking for possible lawyers: a few thousands spent on counseling sounds as a ton of money for me, so ideally I want to get a personal advice on whom to pay it to.
Thank you. Actually, I didn't mention custody issues in the original post because I was sure that joint custody is the default and only option (good to know that it is indeed).
I wonder, however, if it's really possible and manageable while living in different countries (which is one of possible outcomes in my case).
The "counseling" is the arbitration process to iron out the details of the divorce - done by the Bezirk (whatever the official name is, its the legal offices of the area you live in, comes under the Gemeinde, they employ a lawyer and a social worker) So you two can come to a settlement of how the divorce is to proceed and the agreement you both sign eventually.
This costs about Sfr300 an hour or part thereof (if I remember correctly), and you share the costs, so if you can work it out yourselves, by being practical, you can save these costs.
My friend had very similar situation and the lawyer helped him a lot! He had his initial consultation with him for 200 CHF for two hours. The Lawyer's email is [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) , his website www.chlup.ch
Hi there, I can also recommend this person who could answer my questions in a very timely manner. Although we only exchanged emails, he took the time review the documents I did provide him and did provide me with his feedback and thoughts on my situations. Highly recommended!
I can also recommend Richard Chlup - he squeezed me in today (Saturday) at the last minute before he went on holidays. Very accommodating, very helpful and very reasonable. He was great.