If you and your spouse have decided on divorce, you might be thinking you could save money by representing yourself rather than hiring an attorney. Especially if:
- Married only for a short time
- Both committed to divorce
- No children
- No assets
- No alimony involved
But you will find that divorce is confusing and often very complicated. So, here are thoughts on why you need a family attorney to handle your divorce.
Unfamiliar with law and court
If you are representing yourself, don’t expect any special action from the judges as they will hold you to the exact same criteria as any divorce attorneys. If you are not familiar with the law in this field in your state, you could be heading for a disaster.
Objective advice
This is an extremely emotional period for both spouses. Your days can be a rollercoaster of feelings that can interfere with objective thinking. These feelings can cause heightened emotions and this fact might make you less than objective about your case and distort your judgment.
Options
Based on their experience as well as familiarity with the judges, family court and similar cases, an attorney will know of a range of legally acceptable options you will not know about. And these could be options that are important to the entire divorce. Unless you are an attorney yourself, best to spend the money.
Paperwork
When you are going through a divorce and handling it yourself, you will be buried with paperwork to be completed and filed with the court. It is worth the money to have an attorney handle all of this for you. They will also know the various deadlines and other rules that govern family court.
Entire situation
When you are handling your own divorce, you are probably most focused on winning the case, where a divorce attorney will be able to build the best possible deal – while also helping you in areas that can be compromised. These are areas that only a divorce attorney with experience will be able to do.
Putting all of this together, it is worth the money that you will spend on hiring a good divorce attorney
