The Different Reasons You Would Need to Hire an Attorney

You might think that you’ll never need to hire a lawyer unless you find out that there are cancer-causing chemicals in your water, and then your case gets turned into an Oscar-winning movie about a plucky legal secretary. In other words: Probably not ever.

But the truth is that there are a lot of reasons that you would need to hire an attorney in the course of your lifetime. Here are some of the top few:

After an Accident

Car accidents are far more common than many of us would like. Even if you have what seems like a simple fender bender, hiring a personal injury attorney may be able to help you get a better settlement for the damages to your vehicle and the physical and emotional injuries you suffered.

The attorneys from the Winters and Yonker firm in Tampa explain that the insurance company will work hard to minimize its obligation to you after an accident, even if their payout is low. By hiring an attorney, you level the playing field against these big corporations. You ensure that you have a legal advocate fighting for your interests. The more serious the accident, the higher the stakes. Working with a personal injury attorney can help you get the settlement you deserve to protect your future and ensure that your medical needs are met.

After Getting Engaged

Getting married is a time to celebrate! But it’s also a time to see an attorney. While you may be too elated to ever think of the possibility that your marriage won’t last forever, the sad truth is that nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. If you do end up splitting, you are at risk of losing at least half of everything you have worked so hard to get, if not more.

It is prudent to see an attorney after you get engaged to work up a prenuptial agreement. A good prenup will protect you against excessive losses in a potential divorce. It’s better to get the prenup and not end up needing its protections than to forego it in the name of love and regret it later.

After Calling It Quits

Whether you ever got that prenup or not, you’ll definitely need to consult with an attorney if you decide to separate or divorce. A good divorce attorney can help you draw up a separation agreement that outlines child custody, child support, and even temporary spousal support. A formal separation agreement can help you get what you need while you are working through the divorce, which can take many months or even years.

Your divorce attorney will later negotiate the terms of your divorce, which can include who gets the house, how other assets are divided, how debt is divided, whether you get spousal support, how child custody is divided, and so on. If you try to negotiate these things without an attorney, you run the risk of losing a lot.

After Deciding to File for Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy continues to be a useful tool for those who are struggling financially. While you can file for bankruptcy on your own, you shouldn’t. A bankruptcy attorney will help to negotiate a debt restructuring plan for you that will minimize your debts and get you the most affordable monthly payment. If you want to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, an attorney can help you create the strongest case to increase the chances that you will qualify.

The right bankruptcy attorney can help you get free of the debts that are causing you to struggle. After you file, you should be able to get a fresh start and begin rebuilding your finances.

There are plenty more reasons why you might need to hire an attorney over the course of your life, such as when starting a new business, when drawing up a will, when getting injured on someone else’s property, or when settling a conflict with a landlord or tenant. Hiring an attorney just makes good financial sense. The right attorney will protect your interests to either minimize your risks or to help you get an appropriate settlement. You would work with a professional for things like selling your home or repairing your vehicle, so why wouldn’t you work with a professional on some of the most important issues in your life?