Due to a marriage breakdown i have needed to employ the services of a solicitor.
I have been hit with a rather large bill for an initial 1 hour meeting and have been asked to transfer a considerable amount of money into their trust account to cover initial "expenses". The initial quote has a 30% range in prices.
This is what people that work in a profession that go to uni for years and then work for years to get a qualification can do. Oh hang on, i went to uni for years and spent years to get my license but i can't quote with within a 30% range, ask for large sums up front or charge several hundreds for an initial meeting. I wouldn't be able to charge $20 for photocopying 1 a4 sheet.
How come that profession can get away with it and not us?
They write the laws.
Maybe it's just me being a silly nieve surveyor but i thought laws were created through amendments to acts of Parliament and the solicitors are there to help us lay people cross that mine field. Either way, their profession seems to be running a lot smoother than ours, atleast here in Australia.
They can charge big bucks for a divorce because it is worth it.
Client: Will you answer 3 simple questions for five hundred dollars?
Attorney: Sure, what are the other 2?
Imbris, That's partly my point.
Real estate agents get a commission based on the sale price, not on how hard that sale was. Solicitors can take a chunk because an estate has it. Surveyors, atleast here, charge little more than a flat rate, no matter what the value of the property. Great Surveyors and great business often don't mix and once some drop prices, the majority need to fall in line to get anything.
If I only made as much money as my tradesmen friends.........
Exactly! I have been told by other Surveyors (some in senior roles) that i should never think of myself as a tradesman. I tell them that i agree, i would never assume to bring in that kind of income. Professionals earn more, well make more atleast. Tradesmen, again more. If we can't charge like professionals or tradesmen, what are we? Just silly?
The following advice also applies to employing professionals. It's not all about price. But, some are too greedy.
"Shop Around"
(Smokey Robinson with The Miracles)
When I became of age my mother called me to her side,
She said,"Son, you're growing up now pretty soon you'll take a bride.
And then she said, "Just because you've become a young man now,
There's still somethings that you don't understand now,
Before you ask some girl for her hand now
Keep your freedom for as long as you can now."
My mama told me, "You better shop around, (shop, shop)
Oh yeah, you better shop around." (shop, shop around)
Aha, got some things that I want you to know now.
Just as sure as the winds gonna blow now
The women come and the women gonna go now
Before you tell em that you love em so now.
My mama told me, "You better shop around, (shop, shop)
Oh yeah, you better shop around." (shop, shop around)
Ooh yeah, you try to get yourself a bargain son.
Don't be sold on the very first one.
Pretty girls come a dime a dozen,
Try to find one who's gonna give you true lovin'
Before you take a girl and say I do, now,
Make sure she's in love with-a you now.
My mama told me, "You better shop around."
[Instrumental]
Ooh yeah, you try to get yourself a bargain son.
Don't be sold on the very first one.
Pretty girls come a dime a dozen,
I gotta find one who's gonna give you true lovin'.
Before you take a girl and say I do, now,
Make sure she's in love with you now.
Make sure that her love is true now.
I hate to see you feelin' sad and blue now."
My mama told me, "You better shop around (shop, shop)
Aha, Don't let the first one get you
Oh no cause I don't want to see her with you
Aha, Before you let her hold you tight, ah yeah yeah make sure shes alright
Before you let her take your hand my son
Understand my son, be a man my son I know you can my son
I am feeling that the family assets will be split neatly three ways.
1/3rd to my estranged wife, 1/3rd to her legal team and 1/3rd to mine.
That would be fairly standard.
A Jerry Reed classic.
"She's Got The Gold Mine (I Got The Shaft)"
Well I guess it was back in '63
When eatin' my cookin' got the better of me
So I asked this little girl I was goin' with to be my wife
Well she said she would
So I said "I do"
But I'da said "I wouldn't"
If I'da just knew how sayin' "I do"
Was gonna screw up all of my life
Well the first few years weren't all that bad
I'll never forget the good times we had
Cause I'm reminded every month when I send her the child support
Well it wasn't too long till the lust all died
And I'll admit I wasn't too surprised
The day I come home and found my suitcase sittin' out on the porch
Well I tried to get in
She changed the lock
Then I found this note taped on the mailbox that said
"Goodbye turkey. My attorney will be in touch"
So I decided right then and there
I was gonna do what's right
Give 'er her fair share
But brother
I didn't know her share was gonna be that much
She got the goldmine (She got the goldmine)
I got the shaft (I got the shaft)
They split it right down the middle
And then they give her the better half
Well it all sounds sorta funny
But it hurts too much to laugh
She got the goldmine, I got the shaft
Now listen, you ain't heard nothin' yet
Why they give her the color televison set
Then they give her the house
The kids
And both of the cars
See?
Well then they started talkin' about child support
Alimony
And the costs to the court
Didn't take me long to figure out how far in the toilet I was
I'm tellin' ya they have made a mistake
Cause it adds up to more than this cowboy makes
Besides, everything I ever had worth takin' they've already took
While she's livin' like a queen
On alimony
I'm workin' two shifts
Eatin' baloney
Askin' myself, "Why didn't you just learn how to cook?"
They give her the goldmine, (She got the goldmine)
They give me the shaft (I got the shaft)
They said they're splittin' it all down the middle
But she got the better half
Well, it all sounds mighty funny
But it hurts too much to laugh
She got the goldmine, I got the shaft
Well, she got the goldmine, (She got the goldmine)
I got the shaft (I got the shaft)
They split it all down the middle
And then they give her the better half
Well, I guess it all sounds funny
But it hurts too much to laugh
She got the goldmine, I got the shaft
Heh, heh. Hey ain't kidding. I got the shaft
But I don't have to worry about totin' a billfold anymore
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
I let my wife tote it, I'm gonna be carryin' food stamps
You get it judge?
I'm gonna be indebted
That's not funny, huh?
Huh?
Contempt of court?
What do you mean I'm
Listen judge, I'm just kiddin'
I mean
You can't get blood out of a turnip, can ya? (Ha ha ha)
Holy cow
Thanks to you even if financially she takes me to the cleaners, I'll be atleast tapping my feet the whole way!
That's what Jerry Reed is really good at getting his listeners to do. Find that song on Youtube and you'll be humming it for the next year or so.
Holy Cow, post: 390757, member: 50 wrote: That's what Jerry Reed
iswas really good at getting his listeners to do. Find that song on Youtube and you'll be humming it for the next year or so.
Thanks for the update, Tommy. According to Wikipedia I'm only eight years behind on my music news. Did not know his name was actually Jerry Reed Hubbard. Wonder if his mother became the old woman the poet wrote about and what ever happened to her hungry dog.
Jerry Reed was great! I'm a huge fan of his guitar picking style...
Best wishes to come out the other side in one piece. As for fees...
My proposals have been known to cause severe heart problems for the less educated clients. I do not 'charge for my time'. I charge for my cost, time, expertise, liability and at times just plain aggravation. It must work because there are 12 jobs on the board and the phone always rings.
It took me a long time to wrap my head around this, but it's true. We do not make more money because we don't charge more. We overlook many of the costs of doing business and undervalue many aspects of our work product.
My .03, Tom
Lawyers might earn more but you couldn't pay me enough money to sit at a desk all day dealing with other peoples legal issues. I earn the difference in pay by being out in the field and free.
I use to get 1/3 up front, 1/3 after the field work was done and the rest at the issue of the drawing. I was amazed I never had anybody balk. Except for the ones that would have tried to screw me out of the money anyways. Most people don't order surveys every day. They are use to paying a plumber or a/c man a fee just to come out, a mechanic money just to hook the car up to a machine. Everything was done under a contract.
[SARCASM]"Don't need no stinkin' lawyers"[/SARCASM]
A divorce only costs several hundred dollars for all the court costs and filing fees.
The details vary from state to state.
Every state has a checklist of what is fair and what will happen when there is conflict and there just ain't no fighting it.
The whole chain of events is kinda like watching crows flocking to a new laid garden to pick away at the sprouting seeds and leaving nothing behind.
Too many feelings and memories in all the tangible stuff that has been collected and keeping it only allows wounds to stay open and all that can be left and forgotten for the better.
When she left and took all her stuff, I loaded all the rest, sold and gave away and put in storage, relocated and started over with what tools and job I had.
Took burning some bridges that really did not go anywhere anymore, la de da......
They can't ask for something you don't have.
Her lawyer finally sent and I signed a "waver of non appearance in court" that stated she could keep what she took and I would keep what I had in my possession and "poof", she was gone...........that was 30yrs ago and I have not looked back.
good luck
