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Data verified October 17, 2026
The papers are on the kitchen table, or they are about to be, and what you want is a map of what happens next. Divorce work is the unwinding of a marriage: the filing, full disclosure of what each spouse earns and owns, dividing property and debts, and spousal support where one income carried the household. Separation covers the same ground before anyone files, or when a couple wants terms in writing without ending the marriage. Anything to do with the children sits with a custody practice, often in the same building.
Attorneys differ most in how they get you to the end. Some settle nearly everything at the table, some file motions early, and collaborative divorce sits between the two, with both sides contracting in writing to stay out of court. Fees follow the route. An hourly retainer suits a contested case; a flat fee suits an uncontested filing where you already agree on the terms. Ask which one your situation resembles, and what would tip it the other way.
Pull the money paperwork together before you meet anyone. Tax returns, pay records, bank and retirement statements, mortgage and loan balances, card debt, and the title to anything that has one. Disclosure is where a contested case either moves or stalls.
Below, the state and city lists break the map down to divorce practices you can actually reach. A city page marks which firms sit inside that city, which ones are nearby, and what every listing says about consultations.
The filing and the paperwork that follows it, disclosure of income, assets and debts on both sides, negotiation or litigation over how property is divided, spousal support, and the final judgment that makes the terms enforceable. Many also handle the follow-up work when someone stops paying or circumstances change. Custody, parenting time and child support are usually kept in a separate practice area, even inside the same firm.
Rules differ by state. A handful treat most property acquired during the marriage as owned equally, while most divide it in a way a court considers fair, which is not always an even split. Pensions, a business, and a house with a mortgage on it each need their own treatment. What an attorney can do at the first meeting is tell you which framework your state uses.
Broadly, whether one spouse needs support and the other can pay it, read against how long the marriage lasted, what each person earns or could earn, and what each gave up along the way. Alimony can be temporary while the case runs, then set for a period afterward or not at all. Rules and the weight given to each factor vary by state, so ask about yours.
Yes. A separation agreement settles the same questions, property, debts and support, while the marriage legally continues. Couples use it when health coverage, religious reasons or a waiting requirement make ending the marriage awkward right now. Not every state offers a formal status for it. The agreement usually rolls into the later filing, so it is worth drafting as if it will be permanent.
Both spouses keep their own attorney and everyone signs an agreement to settle without going to court. Financial neutrals and coaches join the meetings where they help. The bite in it is the disqualification clause: if the process fails and someone files, both attorneys step aside and you start over with new counsel. That cost keeps people at the table, which is the whole point of it.
Often the same firm does, but it is treated as different work. Divorce practice is about ending the marriage and settling what the two of you own, owe and pay each other. Parenting schedules, decision-making and child support belong to the custody category, which has its own vocabulary and its own filings. Ask directly whether the attorney you are meeting handles both, or only one.
