In a team exercise at FLR, we all became either “travellers” or “travel agents”, all in our ongoing, never ending, quest to better understand and better meet the needs of our family law clients. Sounds strange, I know, but if you are facing a family law problem, your situation is likely analogous to embarking on an overseas trip.
Where are you going?
How do you get there? Many may lead to a resolution but which is the best one to take?
How much will it cost you? Are you a budget or no-expense-spared traveller?
Are you a fairly independent traveller who can do some things yourself or do you need an all-inclusive-led-by-the-hand-fully-guided-tour?
Has a travel warning been issued for your destination? There may be safety considerations.
The language can be strange and difficult to understand and the advice you receive, like foreign food, may be hard to swallow or distasteful to you.
Is it your first time or have you taken this journey before?
How much baggage is too much baggage? What tools and companions do you need to bring along with you to make the going easier?
How will you cope without the family and friends who inevitably you say good bye to?
Do you not know where your next meal will come from?
Like any overseas traveller, if you are facing a family law issue, the path ahead is often an unknown and frightening one littered with emotional and financial challenges. Of course, just as there is “hard travel” (think trekking the Andes) and there is “soft travel” (comfortable, 5+ star hotels), so too with family law problems.
Whether your family law problem is hard or soft, to take some of the uncertainty out of where you’re going and hence ease your anxiety, you need good advice from a professional about your end goal and how to get there. A good family lawyer can be your experienced guide to help you traverse the processes, language and unpalatable bits and, if all else fails, help you find some refuge from the irritations along the way.
I hope this blog helps meet some of those needs – a Lonely Planet Guide to Family Law, if you will.
If you want help with a family law issue, go to www.familylawresults.co.nz.