5 Hidden Dangers of a DIY Divorce

The thought of divorce creates stress and a certain kind of tension for everyone. If we’re in such a situation, we’re always looking for painless and the fastest way out of that case. Thanks to the internet, today we have all the information at our fingertips. Sometimes it seems that with its help we can do everything ourselves in the right way, but is it really like that? We have to do more thinking before we start blindly believing everything we see.

On the Internet, we can find various methods to resolve divorce on our own. The question is how well we know the law rules? I’m sure that we cannot replace the entire work and lawyer experience with one read article on the Internet. It may seem like a cheaper and faster option at first, but in the end, it could cost you much more than you ever think of. If you’re considering a DIY divorce, here are a few hidden dangers that you should consider first.

1. Pro se legal representation

If you have decided to divorce, it’s clear that at some point you will have to go to court, whether you have started a divorce by yourself or with the lawyer’s help. Does appearing in court in the role of an “uneducated” pro se scare you? It’s very difficult to separate the emotional from business life. Divorce is a personal thing that causes a lot of mixed emotions, but you have to put them aside and go through the process with common sense. If you’ve already taken this path, you must act by the court rules. This means that evidence and witnesses must be prepared in advance. Ask questions that you know the answer to, because otherwise various surprises can happen that would put you in an even more difficult situation and jeopardize the conclusion. The verdict is almost impossible to overturn, so be very careful how you deal with property issues, child custody, and so on.

2. Legal terminology and court forms

Just a few of us are familiar with court paperwork. And why would we attach so much importance to that when lawyers are the ones who know legal patterns, right? These forms must be completely correct and filled in properly for the court to accept them and render a judgment. There are many rules and guidelines to follow when filling out court forms.

If you make a mistake in this fulfillment, you might divide the property in the wrong way and leave everything to your spouse, which wouldn’t be the outcome you expected. Also, the possibility of extra costs is very likely to occur when submitting paperwork without previous experience. Our advice is that before going to court, contact a lawyer who will look at the correctness of the completed papers and point out possible mistakes. This way, you will significantly avoid degrading situations in court.

3. Unplanned costs

I believe that the first and main reason for initiating a DIY divorce is the low cost. You would like to go through the whole process as less expensively as possible, right? How many times have you caught yourself searching online to buy a good coat, the price you see perfectly suits you, but when the coat is delivered you pay a much higher price than the original one? Why is it like that? That’s a good marketing strategy that offers you a fair price but doesn’t talk about shipping costs, taxes, etc. The same thing is with a DIY divorce. With these packages, you seem to be doing the right thing when it comes to costs. However, most of them don’t show you court tax or the cost of court forms. In the end, you will pay double the price for which you decided on this move. Put on paper the pros and cons of hiring the lawyer VS to do it yourself divorce, when it comes to costs, and you’ll get a valid solution.

4. Custody of children

Divorce raises many questions about the division between spouses. The most important one is certainly the custody of children. Only a small mistake in filling out the court paperwork could cost you this unpleasant experience as well. Often DIY ventures in this field can only benefit one side while the other is left in the shadows without knowing how to take charge of the situation.

In case you get the verdict, you were hoping for, there is always a slight possibility that you will miss out on certain benefits. Significant things in your life like child custody should be a call for a lawyer. You should think more rationally about this issue if you’re unsure about initiating a DIY divorce. Ask yourself the question “what if?” and find the answer yourself.

5. Possibility of bankruptcy

Even if you like the outcome of the verdict, you won’t be sure that you’ve closed the marriage chapter with your ex-spouse. If you aren’t sufficiently informed, you may be surprised when you receive a formal legal proceeding from your ex-husband asking for part of the property. When you don’t have legal awareness, you never know all the law rights and obligations of both of you. It’s common for people who start a DIY divorce to fall into this trap, which in the end costs them not only patience but also a good part of the property. If a lawyer in this situation seems like a big expense to you, on the website Matrimonialhome.com you will find a lot of legal advice on how to behave at every step of your divorce. Take a closer look.

I believe that at the beginning of the divorce you thought “this won’t take much time”. If so, you are completely wrong. The divorce takes a lot of time because it consists of many details that you have to take care of individually. Many people start with DIY divorces because they have a dose of self-confidence and they think they’ll go much cheaper. This is not always true. Some packages of this type offer you help with legal paperwork but ignore the financial settlement. Keep your eyes open and read carefully what this package has to offer.

Our warm recommendation is that because of the dangers of a DIY divorce we indicated above, you consider contacting an expert in this field to get a satisfactory judgment.