The Professionals Behind the Plan

A family law attorney’s guide to the advisors who may help clients make informed decisions throughout divorce.

If you are preparing for divorce or trying to understand which professionals may belong on your divorce support team, speak with an experienced family law attorney. The right legal guidance can help you identify the issues, prioritize decisions, and bring in trusted professionals when their insight may help you move forward with confidence. 

Series Introduction: Why Divorce Often Requires More Than Legal Counsel Alone 

As a family law Attorney, Mediator, and Parenting Coordinator, I have spent the last 25+ years guiding hundreds of clients through the legal frameworks of divorce: custody, support, equitable distribution, settlement negotiations, and, when necessary, litigation. But divorce is rarely only a legal event. It is also a financial transaction, a housing decision, a parenting transition, an estate-planning moment, and often an emotional turning point for the entire family. 

That is why the best outcomes happen when you have the right team supporting your success. The earlier clients understand who belongs on their team, the more proactive and less reactive the process can become.  

While your attorney remains the legal expert, advocate, and strategist, other professionals bring their own specialized insight that can help clients better understand the numbers, plan for life after divorce, protect their children, sell or refinance property, update insurance, and organize the practical details that can otherwise feel overwhelming. As a family lawyer, I do my best to talk about all of these things with my clients and encourage them to consider the future when determining their goals, but my expertise is in the legal sphere and not in all of these individual areas. 

I came up with this series, The Professionals Behind the Plan, as a way to highlight some of the ways that other professionals, advisors, and specialists can help to support clients and calm the chaos at different points in the divorce process. Each installment will discuss how and when that professional may be useful and how their work complements—not replaces—the role of experienced family law counsel.  Stay tuned to hear from some of the experts I work with to help my clients achieve the best outcome for their next chapter.