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Think of retainers as a security deposit for your case. When you’re initiating your case, we don’t know how much it’s going to cost, and we don’t know what’s going to come up. So, we take an advanced fee deposit that goes into our account and states that we have “X amount of dollars to put towards your case until we need an additional deposit. Retainers vary depending on where you are in your case, how complex your case is, how close you are to trial, and which legal team you’re working with. Each of our attorneys has a different hourly rate depending on their expertise and the complexity of your case.

Discovery in family law can take on several different forms. Initially, each case will deal with documents and paperwork. We will need to determine which physical documents are presently in existence that we can request to fill in the gaps by getting valuation of property, potential incomes, and any additional financial information. Discovery may also include depositions, or custody evaluations. The basic tenant of Discovery is that we want to gather as much information as possible so that we can be prepared for negotiation, trial, settlement conferences, etc.

The simplest answer is that it is for the well-being of your loved ones. An estate plan can be as simple as a will, or can entail what we call a comprehensive estate plan, which includes a will, a health care power of attorney, a financial power of attorney, an advanced directive, and a disposition of remains. The reason we include all of these documents is because they all work together to help make things easier as you approach the end of your life. You have documents that will help your loved ones be able to work with you in the hospital, to acquire information on your behalf, and to help appoint someone who can handle your financial affairs when things become difficult.

Having an advanced directive is perhaps one of the most considerate things you can do for your loved ones. Because you have already made important decisions for future yourself, (such as when you want a doctor to stop administering care), taking the burden of that decision away someone that you love can be extremely relieving.

Creating a will or a trust will help avoid conflicts or disputes among your beneficiaries or heirs after your death, and they make things simple and straightforward. In the context of a will, having a named representative can also eliminate tension or conflict that can arise between remaining family members, and can also make things more cost-effective for the personal representative who is administering the estate.

A will is the common document that most people are familiar with where a person, at some point during their lifetime, writes down what they want to happen to all of their assets when they die. This person is directing to third parties how they want their property to be distributed.

With a trust, the decedent would fund the trust during their lifetime, and this trust, (which is a separate legal entity), would, at the time of its creation, be the owner of all of their assets. Thus, when they die, the court does not need to transfer titles of said assets. That is because the trust, which still lives on after their death, is able to effectuate the transfer through the successor or trustee who has been appointed.

Oregon child support is determined by a guideline calculation, which takes into account several major factors, including the gross incomes of either party and the annual number of overnight stays with the child or children. The court will also consider several secondary factors, including who pays union dues, who covers healthcare for the children, and the necessity for daycare expenses. That calculation creates what is called a rebuttable presumption. As parties earn more or less, or if circumstances change, child support awards can be modified through the court.