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by BuckyF on October 22nd, 2003

BuckyF

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Can I get a divorce without a lawyer?

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  • by Alonzo Garbonzo on April 21st, 2005

    Alonzo Garbonzo

    I went to a cheapo divorce service to inquire about their program. They help you with forms and so on. The divorce was uncontested, with no property to divide, no children. It should be a simple matter of filing forms. How hard could it be? They wanted to charge several hundred dollars.

    I told the consultant I was thinking of doing it myself. She told me, "You can't do it yourself. It's too complicated. You need legal training." That was all I needed to hear.

    I went to the county courthouse and asked to see divorce files. You can't ask for a specific file, I was told. The clerk kept bringing me random files until I found a case identical to mine. I made sketches of the forms and wrote down their contents (you are not allowed to take them from the room or copy them). At home, I created my own forms. They were nothing fancy.

    From there I called county offices from phone book listings and got instructions for filing a divorce. The procedure involved filing papers, waiting, and appearing briefly before a judge. All of the legwork took only a few hours and was surprisingly painless. The only cost was a small filing fee. Don't let people try to convince you that you are helpless.

    This procedure probably doesn't apply in all states.

    Update: The above procedure came way before online services. Legalzoom.com is the way to go now.

    http://www.legalzoom.com/legalzip/divorce/div_procedure.html

    Comments

    • Great research, great answer. Good to know lawyers aren't necessary for everything.

      Jodie44

      by Jodie44 on July 24th, 2005

    • i saw a book in wal mart for 20 dollars that had the forms, you just have to pay to file them.

      imagenius

      by imagenius on November 19th, 2005

    • I would recommend hiring a para-legal to type up the documents though since the courts will reject them if they aren't put together properly. Beyond that I think this answer has it all. As long as the divorce is uncontested, and especially if there are no kids involved, a lawyer would be a waste of money in my opinion.

      thekingcobra63

      by thekingcobra63 on August 8th, 2007

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