Do I Need A Divorce Attorney?
In some cases, divorce is a mutual idea and favorable to both parties. However, divorce can also easily turn into an ugly court battle when spouses disagree on topics concerning their future lives. Divorce can even start out uncontested(agreeable) and then over time become a contested(unagreeable) divorce as they advance.
What I’m trying to say is that divorce is messy, but it doesn’t always start out that way, so it can be difficult to know what lies ahead. If you find yourself questioning the need to hire a divorce attorney near South Florida, let me ease your mind. While you are legally allowed to represent yourself in court, there are a plethora of advantages a divorce attorney can bring to your case.
Will you truly be able to agree on E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G?
While you and your soon to be ex-spouse may agree on a lot of things. For example, how to split up your debt, how to sell your home and split the profit, even the amount of parenting time and child support. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve thought of everything. You and your spouse may know what possessions and assets you want to split and keep, but there is also an entire legal side to marriage you may be missing.
A divorce attorney will be able to give you suggestions that you may have not previously thought of. Will you and your spouse have separate life insurance policies for your child in the event of an unlikely death? Who will pay for unconsidered health costs and extracurricular activities near the kids? College costs for children and splitting up retirement plans are all things that don’t come to mind during complex cases like divorce. While you both may still agree to split everything 50/50 it's important to have an attorney there who understands the complexities and intricate laws that surround divorces in south Florida.
An attorney will need to draft the agreement
Once you have truly agreed on everything, you will still need to memorialize your agreement on paper. As stated before you can legally do this yourself. However, I strongly consider getting professional help from a divorce attorney near you for this step if any. This agreement will essentially govern your future obligations and the rights to your children for the rest of your life.
One misplaced word or wrongly worded sentence could result in unintended consequences for you down the road. A divorce attorney will be trained in legal writing and analysis to ensure your agreement will be drafted properly.
Not only does the agreement draft need to be seemingly perfect, but it also has to include boilerplate language and vocabulary. Which is really just a fancy word that means contract language. Unless you have time to study up on the last 10 years of boilerplate language, to me this task is best left to those who are professionally trained to do it.
The divorce attorney will fill out all necessary paperwork
A small number of people will opt to fill out all their own paperwork in court, and that’s because it’s not a simple task. I know we all fill out paperwork daily and some of us may be very accustomed to it. However, the number one reason a judge dismisses a case is for failure to file the appropriate paperwork. If you do decide to file on your own, south Florida provides help to self-represented individuals that choose to file for divorce. But it still won’t be a walk in the park.
A divorce attorney will complete and file your complaint about divorce, which normally takes no more than one hour to do. Unless your attorney charges arbitrary prices, it’s definitely worth your time to have the attorney file the complaint rather than yourself.
Furthermore, some documents like the case information statement that’s filed when you originally divorce could become crucial for your case if something happens. It’s easy to not know the importance of the paperwork you’re doing until it comes back to bite you. The best way to avoid that is to hire an experienced divorce attorney to assist you.
Avoid delays
Even though you may use court provided documents to file for your divorce, you can still run into problems when completing the correct forms and providing relevant information. If you choose to go to court without legal counsel the failure to provide accurate paperwork and documents could very well delay the entire process. This would, in turn, delay the final divorce process.
Reduce your stress with expert advice
An experienced divorce attorney will help you receive everything you deserve in your divorce. State laws don’t always support an even split of assets depending on the specific situation. In some cases, one spouse is entitled to retirement or other income that the other spouse can only receive in the future. If your marriage involves any complicated issues an attorney will benefit you greatly.
Finally, divorce can be an extremely stressful time for all parties that are involved. Hiring an attorney will not only get you the results you’re looking for, but it will also give you peace of mind and help you relax during such stressful times. While your attorney will still need to gather information from you during the process, he or she will handle the workload while you can focus on starting fresh. This will ultimately allow you to take more care of yourself and your family during the course of the divorce. You will already have enough to worry about, let an attorney take care of the legal work for you.
After reading this article I’m sure you’re taken back by how many things can derail the process of divorce. Hopefully, I’ve provided you with enough information to make sure your divorce goes as smoothly as possible for the sake of you and your family. Divorce can be a difficult thing to go through alone, so believe me when I say hiring a divorce attorney very well may be your saving grace.
