Divorce can be expensive--especially if you hire a lawyer. Some people really need to work with an attorney, especially where there are a lot of contested issues, but for others, a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach can work just fine. There's also a middle ground involving legal document preparers or online divorce services.
Here are some questions to help you determine whether the DIY approach is right for you. If you answer "yes" to all these questions, you're probably a good candidate for a DIY divorce:
- Are you and your spouse in agreement on all issues (property, custody, and support)?
- Are you satisfied that you have complete information about your family's assets and debts?
- Are your assets and debts relatively simple?
- Are you comfortable with the arrangements for your children in terms of custody, support and shared parenting time?
- Do you believe the settlement is fair and reasonable?
Finding DIY Resources
You can get most of what you need at your local court. Just walk in and ask the clerk how to get your hands on them. The clerk may send you to the nearby county law library for the forms, but more likely you’ll have them handed across the counter to you. They’ll probably include some instructions or information about how to get started on your divorce.
There is a mind-boggling amount of information about divorce available on the Internet—you could literally spend days exploring websites that give away or sell information, forms, and services to divorcing spouses. From government-sponsored sites on down to commercial sites trying to make a quick buck, there’s a broad spectrum of quality and usefulness. Take care and be sure you find accurate information.
Many court websites have extensive, free general information about state divorce laws, along with local court rules and forms. If you want to find information about where your local court is, which branch you should use, filing fees, or clerk’s hours, you can usually find a direct link to the court website at www.statelocalgov.net or www.ncsconline.org. And don’t forget www.irs.gov, where the IRS offers free information about all the tax issues related to divorce.
Getting Help
If you don’t want to handle everything in your divorce yourself, but don’t think you need to hire a mediator or lawyer either, consider a middle path: hiring a nonlawyer to help you just with the paperwork. You won’t be getting help with the negotiation, as you would in mediation, or legal advice, as you would if you used a lawyer. But you will get welcome, experienced help with preparing the court paperwork. Some document preparation services also take care of filing papers with the court or give you instructions on court filing procedures.
You can use these services only when you and your spouse have completed your negotiations and know exactly how you want to settle your divorce. You’ll have to know how much support will be paid and what you’re going to do with your property and debts. If you haven’t yet worked out these questions, you aren’t ready for the document preparation phase of your divorce. Some document preparation services operate small offices; others work entirely online.
Legal Document Preparers
In some places, there are businesses that prepare the paperwork for uncontested divorces. These folks used to be called paralegals but are now most commonly referred to as legal document preparers, or LDPs. Legal document preparers aren’t allowed to give you individualized legal advice. (Only licensed lawyers can do that.) All they do is prepare forms, using the information you supply, and file them with the court. So when you visit a document preparation business, you’ll get a questionnaire that asks you for the information the preparer needs to fill out court forms for your county. The LDP will transfer the information onto the forms, and then either you or the LDP can file them with the court. The fee for doing the paperwork for an uncontested divorce varies from about $175 to $700, depending on where you live, whether you have children, and whether you need a separate settlement agreement (which depends on how your state’s forms are structured).
To find a legal document preparer, first ask your divorced friends and acquaintances whether they used one, and what the experience was like. If that gets you nowhere, look in the yellow pages under “legal document assistant,” “paralegal,” or “typing services.” You can also search the Internet using those terms and your state’s name, to learn more about how LDPs operate in your state (some states limit their activities) and get referrals.
Web-Based Services
Some document preparation services interact with customers only through the Internet, which may be a boon to you if no walk-in service is available close to where you live. You’ll answer questions on the website, and the forms will emerge from your computer or be mailed to you a few days later. You’ll need to file the forms with the court yourself.
The main differences among the sites are how quickly your paperwork is available to you and price. Most online preparation services charge from about $139 to $300.
CAUTION
Do your homework. We’re not recommending any of these online services. Before you plunk down any money for document preparation services, check out the company. Some sites display a seal for the Better Business Bureau online, which means you can check on a report for that company at www.bbbonline.com. Not having the seal doesn’t mean that the product isn’t good, but use your judgment and spend some time looking around for what will work best for you. And while getting your documents immediately may seem appealing, check to be sure they’re being reviewed before you get them.
Excerpted in part from Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce, by Emily Doskow.
