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SRQ Magazine | FEB22 | In Conversation with Elite Top Attorney Honoree Natalya Evans
from SRQ Magazine | February 2022 | In Conversation with Elite Top Attorney Honoree Natalya Evans
by SRQ MEDIA
IN CONVERSATION WITH NATALYA EVANS OF YOUR FAMILY MATTERS LAW FIRM, DISCUSSING FAMILY LAW AND ESTATE PLANNING.
Elite Top Attorney Natayla Evans of Your Family Matters Law Firm
INTERVIEW FACILITATED BY WES ROBERTS | COMPILED BY BARBIE HEIT
SHARE WITH OUR READERS A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF, YOUR PRACTICE, AND WHAT SERVICES YOU PROVIDE.
NATALYA EVANS: I'm the founder and managing attorney at Your Family Matters. We are a law firm specializing in keeping families out of court and out of conflict. That's what we do, it is our passion. We focus on family law and estate planning. I started my practice almost 11 years ago now. My background is in business and I initially started practicing in business law, but I didn't feel like I was making a difference. So, when I had an opportunity to start my own practice, it gave me a chance to sit back and think about what I want to do, and that was to make an impact in our community. I started practicing in the area of family law and learned that for the majority of families, going to court is a process that is just adversarial. It adds fuel to the fire. Couples go through this adversarial process, throw mud in each other's face, and then, at the end of the process, they’re supposed to walk out and somehow co-parent their children together and be civil toward each other. It takes a long time. It's very expensive. l decided to get trained in collaborative law which is actually a team-based approach. Everybody that's part of the process agrees and commits to working through peacefully, to reach a resolution. And, just seeing the difference in the outcomes of families going to court versus collaborative…I couldn't do court anymore. So, I stopped taking litigation cases a little over five years ago, and really focused on keeping families out of court, whether it's the whole collaborative process, mediation, negotiation, whatever it is, just trying to help them make it through with as much dignity intact as possible, and really focusing on their kids or getting to the other side and rebuilding their lives, starting over. Estate planning is another area where I felt I could make an impact. I was a single mom for a while. I remember when I did my own estate plan, I just felt like such a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I always had the fear of what would happen to my kids if something happened to me, so I started taking every class I could in estate planning. I initially started focusing on families with minor children because that is a demographic that is just so widely underserved by the estate planning industry, which is usually focused on serving the elderly population. A good example of that is, most estate planning attorneys, as a matter of practice, just put a guardian nomination into a will. Well, what if a parent is incapacitated and doesn't pass away? That will doesn't take effect. You really have to do a freestanding guardian nomination case of incapacity. And, there's a lot of other pieces that go into it. And, that's really what we do now. We've added asset protection to our state planning practice, helping families qualify for Medicaid for long-term care to preserve some of the assets for their care.
CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE COLLABORATIVE PROCESS IN MORE DETAIL?
Yes, let’s take the kitchen table divorce for example. That's for spouses that really don't have a whole lot. They are a couple that can sit down together at the kitchen table and say, "Okay, here's how we're going to divide things." And, they can either write up the agreement themselves, one of them can retain an attorney to write it up, file with the court, they're done. Another option is for them to hire a mediator. A mediator is a neutral person who helps them facilitate communication. It's highly recommended that they use a mediator who's an attorney, because unfortunately, there are mediators who mean well, but they don't know the law and misguide people. But even an attorney should not be giving advice, but they can put together the agreement, make sure it's complete when it comes to an agreement. Mediation can be attended with or without attorneys. The next out of court option is collaborative. In the Florida statutes, for it to be a collaborative process, each party has to have their own attorney, preferably collaboratively trained. It's a completely different approach and mindset from what they teach us in law school. In a collaborative participant agreement, all parties sign, saying that we're not going to litigate, and that there are ground rules for the process by being transparent, forthcoming, and not playing silly games. When I represent a client in a collaborative case, if I see that they're not disclosing information that's relevant, I have to actually tell them they have to disclose it or I have to withdraw.
DO YOU BRING IN OTHER PROFESSIONALS FOR A COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE?
We often utilize other professionals. We use a neutral financial professional, so instead of each attorney looking at all the finances, exchanging them, reviewing them, triple doing the same work, we have one financial person, who typically bills at a lower rate, more efficiently, and only does the work once. They collect all the financials and put together one complete picture, and help both spouses make it more of an educated business decision, instead of emotional. And then, we typically use an initial facilitator, who helps steer the process. We like to use somebody with a mental-health background. They're the ones who will work with parents on putting together a parenting plan based on what the child needs, not what a parent wants. If for any reason, anybody decides to go ahead and go to court, all the professionals have to withdraw.
FOR SOME CLIENTS, THIS IS PROBABLY THE FIRST TIME THEY’VE MET WITH AN ATTORNEY. WHAT SHOULD THEY EXPECT WHEN THEY MEET YOU FOR THE FIRST TIME?
Whether it's collaborative or not, I typically do a 50 minute phone call with a client first, just so we can introduce ourselves. If they want to move forward, they come in and discuss everything. It is a very stressful process to go through for anybody, whether or not kids are involved. So, it's really important to focus on making our clients as comfortable as possible. Our office has a very calm and relaxing feel. Our staff is made up of very kind people. Fortunately, most of the clients that come in are just looking for somebody to listen to them, to give them some clarity and direction, and that's what we try to do.
WHAT WOULD BE AN INTERESTING CASE THAT YOU COULD TELL ME ABOUT, WITH IDENTITIES REMOVED?
I handled this case years ago, collaborative wasn't a thing yet, but I've always handled my cases that way, whenever possible. I had this father come in to see me, who had gone through mediation, unfortunately entered into an agreement that wasn't very well drafted, and was suffering the consequences of not being able to spend as much time with his daughter as he really should have. He came to see me to see if we could modify it. He had already remarried at this time to a wonderful lady. She still writes me letters, and every time she comes in, she tells me how our work together completely changed their family. When they first came to see me, the dad and the mother of the little girl couldn't even talk to each other. There was so much conflict, co-parenting was next to impossible. Now, she's a teenager. They are doing birthday celebrations together. The little girl is flying to another state to see grandparents. And, they're both working through it. That's how families should be. And they told me the big thing that made it click for them when I was representing them, was when I said "Whatever decision you want to make, think about the importance of that decision and how that request or what you're asking for is going to affect your child, how that's going to affect your long term goal. Is that a really productive request or decision, or is it counterproductive?" They are truly co-parenting together now. It's amazing. That's why I do what I do.
HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS IN WORKING WITH A CLIENT? WHAT IS A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME?
A successful outcome is having a family who is better off when they're leaving my office than they were when they came in. Pretty simple, I think. To us, your family matters.
WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSIONAL GOAL, FOR YOURSELF AND/OR YOUR PRACTICE?
In my practice, I want to help and educate as many local families as I can. A lot of times, unfortunately, as younger parents, we research the highest rated car seat and the most protective helmet for our kids. And, most parents know they need to do something in case something happens to them, but they don't even know where to start looking. So, I really try hard to get out in the community and put on seminars just to educate families about estate planning so they know, and if they come to use me, great. And if they use someone else, that's fine, as long as they get things in place to protect themselves and the kids in case something happens. That's a huge goal of mine. And obviously, with divorce, just try to keep things as amicable and positive as possible, and not lose sight of the kids in the process. The hardest thing when I did litigate was seeing kids, whether intentionally or not, being stuck in the middle. And unfortunately, at times, being used to get what one of the spouses wants. And, that is just the most heartbreaking thing to see.
ARE THERE NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN YOUR FIELD OR IN THE LEGAL STATUTES THAT YOU FEEL ARE SUCCESSFUL AND BENEFICIAL IN MAKING THESE PROCESSES BETTER? ARE THERE OTHER ONES AS WELL?
Absolutely. I was in an inaugural leadership Institute of the Florida Academy of Collaborative Professionals, I've been a member of it for many years. We work really hard to educate a lot of the attorneys. International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and Florida Academy have worked to make sure that there are uniform laws in place in the Florida statutes, so that everybody's practicing properly. Unfortunately, there are still attorneys who say, "Hey, I'm collaborative." Because it's a buzzword out there. They really haven't been trained in knowing how to handle those cases. So, if that's that process that somebody's interested in, they really need to look to see what kind of training and experience the attorney has, because it is a completely polar opposite approach and mindset from what we were taught in law school.
IN YOUR PROCESS OF BECOMING AN ATTORNEY, HAVE YOU HAD GREAT MEN- TORS THAT WERE IMPORTANT TO YOU? WHAT WAS YOUR PERSONAL JOURNEY LIKE IN THAT WAY?
I definitely have. When I first started my practice, as I mentioned, I was doing business law. So, I went into family law, and I had to learn everything from scratch; went to a big state conference, again, did every class I could find, but still, having other colleagues that I could turn to anytime I had a question or an issue was really, really important. And, I feel like our local bars in Sarasota County and Manatee County are just so incredible. People are really willing to help each other, so just having a community of other attorneys who are there to support one another and mentor one another is very
ABOUT THE PARTICIPANT
NATALYA S. EVANS, P.A. Attorney Natalya Evans’ estate planning practice focuses on helping families enhance their lives today and secure their futures tomorrow. She excels in guiding her clients through the often-confusing maze of financial and legal decisions to create plans that ensure the well-being of their families and the accomplishment of cherished family goals. Her areas of focus include family protection, wealth preservation, and values-based planning, as well as planning strategies for unmarried couples and divorced individuals. Natalya graduated from Stetson University College of Law. Although her initial plan was to practice in the area of business law, she quickly realized that her true calling was in helping families, and that a courtroom was not the proper place to do that. Whether a custody battle or a battle over a loved one’s assets, litigation adds fuel to the fire of an already emotionally strained situation. It is her passion to educate families to help them avoid conflict and if conflict arises, to resolve it peacefully and privately. She focuses on helping individuals establish proper plans to protect their loved ones in the event they are no longer here to do so themselves and assists families in resolving their family law related cases effectively, efficiently and peacefully.
