Paying an attorney to photocopy bank statements? Four jobs to do yourself first

An attorney's time is billed the same whether it is spent arguing a contested valuation or standing at a copier. Most of the early file in a divorce or custody case is assembly work: statements, pay stubs, tax returns, a list of what is in the house, a calendar with two colors on it. None of that requires a law license, and a client who arrives with it done, labeled, and legible has already changed the shape of the bill. The trick is doing it to a standard that survives review, because work that has to be redone was not free.

1. The financial disclosure packet, gathered once and gathered right

Every state requires some version of a sworn financial statement, and the underlying documents are almost always the same: several years of tax returns, recent pay stubs, statements for every bank and brokerage and retirement account, mortgage and card balances, and proof of any income that does not appear on a W-2. The Internal Revenue Service maintains the transcript system that will settle any argument about what was actually filed, and requesting transcripts costs nothing but a little patience. Gather by account, not by date. A careful reader checks that every account has an unbroken run of statements, that no month is quietly missing, and that the closing balance on one page matches the opening balance on the next.

2. An inventory of property, written before anyone gets sentimental

Somebody is going to have to list the contents of the house, the cars, the tools, the instruments, the jewelry, the furniture worth more than a few hundred dollars. Doing it yourself costs an afternoon and a phone camera. Room by room is the only method that works, with a photograph attached to each entry and a note on where the item came from, since inherited and premarital property is often treated differently. Value at what the thing would sell for used, not what it cost. A careful reader checks the list for the categories people forget: the storage unit, the safe deposit box, the timeshare week, the boat trailer sitting behind a relative's garage.

3. A parenting schedule the two of you can actually run

Two parents at a kitchen table with a wall calendar can settle in an hour what would take three rounds of letters at attorney rates. Work in a full year, not a typical week, because the exceptions are where the fights live: school breaks, the three-day weekends, birthdays, the two weeks of summer vacation, the holidays that alternate and the ones that do not. Write down exchange times and exchange places, and say who drives. A careful reader checks a draft schedule against next year's actual school calendar, then reads it as if it were being followed by two people who no longer speak to each other.

4. The parenting class, taken early rather than late

Most counties require divorcing parents to complete a short parenting education course before a final decree issues, and most accept an online provider from an approved list. It is a fixed, modest fee, and the certificate is the only thing the court wants. Take it in the first month. Cases stall at the end for want of a certificate that took four hours to earn, and a stalled case accrues attorney time in status conferences and reminder emails. A careful reader checks the county's approved provider list before paying anyone, then confirms the certificate carries the correct legal name and case number.

5. The point where doing it yourself starts costing money

Self-help is a saving up to the moment it touches a legal conclusion. Sorting statements is clerical. Deciding which portion of a 401(k) accrued during the marriage is not, and a home valuation, a business interest, a pension divided by court order, or a custody arrangement one parent has already broken all belong to someone who does this for a living. The signal to watch for is a task that requires you to characterize something rather than record it. A careful reader checks each piece of homework against that line, hands over anything on the far side, and pays for judgment instead of paying for typing.

The file assembled this way tends to be better than the one assembled by a paralegal working from a document request, because the person who lived in the house knows where the second savings account came from. Bring it in a binder with tabs. The first meeting then starts with the questions that actually need an attorney in the room.