Practice Areas

Divorce Guidelines

Here are the top five general guidelines for our clients to help ensure that we at Michael T. Mahoney, Ltd. obtain the best results possible in every divorce case we handle (contested or not):

• Be completely honest with your lawyer regarding all aspects of your case. The last thing you want is for your lawyer to learn damaging information about your case from the other attorney or from your spouse’s testimony. Your lawyer cannot effectively represent you this way.


• Do not assume that your lawyer knows what you want. The lines of communication between you and your lawyer must be open at all times to ensure the best possible results in court.


• Accept legal advice only from your lawyer – not your family and friends. You must make all of the important decisions about property settlement, child custody and other substantive issues in your case. You will probably make the wrong decision if you reject your lawyer’s advice to follow the recommendations of your family and friends.


• Live your life as if all that you do will appear on the front page of your hometown newspaper the next morning. This approach prevents you from unwittingly sabotaging your own case.


• Be fair and courteous to your soon-to-be ex-spouse — even if you do not receive the same treatment in return. Taking the high ground will help prevent accumulating legal fees due to unnecessary court battles. Worse yet is the potential psychological damage to your children, who are forced to watch their parents battling needlessly.