Do It Yourself Divorce
Divorce is one of those things that isn’t really planned but up to 50% of marriages do end up going down the path of dissolution. It might seem like a scary fact, but it’s one that anyone who’s going in to marriage has to face if they want to improve their relationship. It’s like talking about a prenup: swatting aside all of the lovey-dovey stuff, you’re just left with a lot of bad memories and a lot of stuff, most of which means nothing to you any more.
In this day and age though, when the economy is so weak, having a do it yourself divorce is something that is becoming more and more common. If you and your soon to be ex-spouse can agree on settling things openly, honestly and fairly, why should you hire a person who is going to take hundreds of dollars per hour? Of course, this is assuming that you and your ex-partner and mature adults and can settle matters without breaking any plates.
It’s hard to find advice on how to have a do it yourself divorce because usually the first person that comes to mind for advice is probably a lawyer. There is a good chance that they’re not going to appreciate you coming into their office, having a chat and leaving. If time is money for anyone, it would be for lawyers.
So what’s the next best option? It would have to be the Internet. While this site does not attempt to be any sort of definitive guide to conducting a do it yourself divorce, it is going to compile all the information that is freely available online in an effort to guide you to divorcing from your partner without involving an attorney.
Do It Yourself Divorce: The basics
If you want more information about how to conduct a do it yourself divorce, the best thing would be to use some common sense first. Assuming you’ve been married for a considerable amount of time, you’re both going to be sharing a lot of stuff (“what’s mine WAS yours”). The reason an attorney would usually step in is that they would help you figure out who belongs to what and in some cases, help you get more stuff from the other spouse (without any effort on your part). As a result, you’re going to need a few things to successfully pull off a do it yourself divorce:
Do It Yourself Divorce Necessity #1: trust
You’re going to have to trust your partner. More importantly, you’re going to have to trust yourself. If you let your emotions get in the way too much, it’s going to make things A LOT more difficult.
Do It Yourself Divorce Necessity #2: privacy
The last thing you want to do is involve more people than necessary. While an attorney is expensive, they guarantee client confidentiality, meaning that your private matters stay private.
Do It Yourself Divorce Necessity #3: checklist
You’re going to need a list of things, both legal and physical, that you will have to tick off as you go along. Being legally divorced ultimately will take a list from a legal department somewhere.