Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could go into court and explain to the judge how you know the true value of a spouse’s ability to earn money? That you could tell the magistrate or judge how your client put their ex-spouse through school, did their laundry, took care of their kids, and all for no pay? Now you would like your client to have financial support for all those years and you’re not asking to profit but just to share the cost of all the necessities of life.
Or, alternatively your client was the one who went out to work, sometimes seven days a week, and did so for the family. Now, it’s time for the ex-spouse to get a meaningful job and support themselves. You don’t mind your client paying their fair share but 100% doesn’t quite mean sharing.
Unfortunately the judge believes you may have a conflict of interest in representing the facts and would like someone like a vocational expert to offer their opinion so they can make a decision about what is fair considering the number of years the couple has been married, the cost of living, and what the ex-spouse may realistically be asked to pay for alimony and support.
How I Can Help You in Your Case? A vocational expert is an expert witness who testifies about work-related matters such as whether a person could perform certain jobs. Vocational experts are typically rehabilitation specialists or vocational guidance counselors. Those persons with a Ph.D., the highest level of academic achievement, are considered experts at the top.
I help attorneys:
- Evaluate the current and future earning capacity and employability of a supported/supporting spouse.
- Estimate a realistic length of time for a supported or supporting spouse to find work in the current labor market.
- Assess efforts of a supported/supporting spouse to seek employment, build a business, or explore career options.
- Assess the influence of a spouse’s education, work-related skills, transferability to new or alternative work.
- Determine the costs and duration of education and/or training for self-identified/realistic education and training for future career options.
- Ascertain the effect of age, physical or emotional health along with work-life expectancy.
- Identify potential costs related to child care resulting in a spouse’s returning to work.
- Compare actual earnings with earning capacity of a supported/supporting spouse.
- Establish a supporting spouse’s earning capacity and ability to support or not to meet support demands.
- Consider changes in circumstances of either spouse’s wage-earning capacity and employability.
- Gage the job seeking spouse’s willingness and ability to interview for employment
I look forward to learning about your case.