Thanks, Chatterbug. You are right. No contact = new job.
I spoke with the attorney yesterday for my free 1/2 hr consultation. She was great. Explained a lot about the laws and types of divorce in my state (contested/uncontested). She gave me a lot of advice too - she recommends talking to him before filing for divorce, and if we can work amicably on a division of the marital assets, then meet with her, it would be a lot less expensive for her to just draw up the paperwork. If we can't do that, or if it's going to be contested, then it would be more money.
Now for the bad news, the retainer fee. I have to save up $$ for the retainer fee (and there's is more affordable than other attorneys' fees in the area). It will take me at least 2-3 months to save up for the retainer fee...so my new question is, do I continue to GAL and act like a don't know while saving up the fee? Or should I talk to H sooner? I honestly don't know if I can "act like a don't know" for the next several months...
At any rate, I won't be talking to H about this for at least another week. I'm running to the jewelry store this morning with my wedding ring to see how much that is worth as part of my saving for the retainer fee (won't sell it today, but it will be good to have this information). I'm also running to the local bank to open my own checking/savings account. Per lawyer, anything with just my name would still be considered part of the marital assets to be divided, but at least if I have that account, and things turn bad with H after we talk, I can pull out the $$ in our joint acct, so I won't have to worry he will go and wipe everything out. I can then continue to pay bills and stuff from my own acct.
I'm also writing out a budget of all the expenses, and seeing where I can cut/save. I always have a general idea of the expenses, but seeing it on paper, and how much I can save every month will hopefully move things along faster, and I'll be able to save the retainer fee that much sooner.
