Divorce
Divorce and separation
You may already know this is happening, or you may still be deciding. Either is fine. We can talk before anything is filed, and nothing you say to us obligates you to do a single thing.
What a divorce in Oregon actually involves
Oregon is a no-fault state. Neither of you has to prove the other did something wrong, and the court will not make you explain why the marriage ended. What the court does need is a decision about four things: how property and debt are divided, whether either of you pays spousal support, where the children live and how they are supported.
That is it. Four questions. Most of the fear people bring to a first meeting comes from imagining a fifth question that does not exist, usually some version of "will a judge decide I was the bad one."
How we try to do it
We start by getting the financial picture on one page, because almost every argument in a divorce is really an argument about not knowing the numbers. Then we look for the version of the settlement that both households can actually live in twelve months from now.
If your spouse has a lawyer, we negotiate with them directly. If your spouse does not, we will tell you plainly where that helps and where it creates risk. If negotiation is not going to work, we litigate, and we tell you before we get there rather than after.
When the other side will not negotiate
Sometimes the answer is mediation with a neutral third party. Sometimes it is a settlement conference in front of a retired judge. Sometimes it is a trial, and a small number of our cases go there.
What we will not do is run up fees on motion practice that changes nothing. If a filing will not move your case forward, we will say so.
Questions people ask about divorce
Probably not. Around four in five of our divorce clients never see the inside of a courtroom. If you reach a written agreement, the judgment is usually signed by a judge without a hearing.
Talk to us first. Moving out does not forfeit your interest in the property, but it can affect a temporary parenting schedule, and that schedule tends to become the permanent one. It is a decision worth ten minutes of legal advice before you make it.
There is a formal discovery process for exactly this, and it has real teeth. Bring us what you already have, even if it is incomplete, and we will tell you whether what you are seeing is unusual or ordinary.
More of them on the common questions page, including cost, timing and what happens on the first call.
The other three
Custody and parenting time
Building a schedule your children can actually live inside, and holding the other parent to it when they will not.
Adoption
The one part of family law that ends in a celebration. Stepparent, agency, foster and second-parent adoptions across Oregon.
Estate planning and guardianship
Wills, trusts, powers of attorney and guardian nominations. An afternoon of paperwork that spares your family a year of guessing.
Start with a conversation, not a commitment
Twenty minutes on the phone, free, with somebody who will tell you plainly whether you even need a lawyer for this.