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→Your Retainer
===Your Retainer===
In British Columbia, family law lawyers cannot work on a "contingency" basis, which is how some other lawyers, like personal injury lawyers, often get paid. Family law lawyers bill for their services by the hour, although some may bill on flat-rate basis for smaller tasks where the scope of the lawyer's services is cleary clearly limited.
Family law lawyers will usually expect to be paid some money up front, called a retainer. While some family law lawyers will agree to be paid from the proceeds of the sale of an asset following trial, most often they'll expect to be paid by an initial retainer followed by additional retainer payments or a monthly billing process.
The amount you pay as your retainer is held by your lawyer in trust. Your lawyer will "withdraw" money from the retainer each time he or she bills you. After a couple of bills or more have been paid from the retainer, the retainer may be exhausted. At that point your lawyer will usually ask you for another retainer, or your lawyer may simply bill you directly each month. On the other hand, if your problem is resolved more quickly than was expected or if you fire your lawyer, you will be entitled to a refund of however much of the retainer is left over.
The terms of how your lawyer will bill you will be set out in your retainer agreement. This is one of the reasons why it is essential that you read the agreement carefully before you sign it. Note that lawyers' fees are subject to HSTPST and GST. Mediators' fees and parenting coordinators' fees, which used to be are subject only to the 5 percent just GST, will now be subject to the full 12 percent HST.
===Reviewing Your Lawyer's Bill===