If you and your spouse have decided to end your marriage, one of the first questions you’ll have is whether you need a divorce lawyer. It’s not a simple question and the answer will depend on your particular situation.
As a general rule, the less that you have to rely on the courts to solve your problems, the more smoothly the divorce will go. But do you need a divorce lawyer? The following information will help you make an informed decision.
You May Not Need a Divorce Lawyer for Everything: Making Decisions on Your Own
If you’re able to work together with your spouse to resolve the legal issues, you may not need a lawyer’s help. These issues include:
- Child custody of your minor children
- Child support
- Alimony
- Division of property
Working together with your spouse through the divorce process can have a lot of advantages, including:
- You’ll have better control over the vital issues that will be raised during your divorce instead of leaving them up to the court.
- You’ll end up saving quite a bit of time and money by not having to hire a divorce lawyer for all aspects of your divorce.
- Children going through a divorce often have a smoother transition if their parents can work out the divorce themselves.
If you and your spouse can come to terms regarding the bigger issues in your divorce, you can generally ask the court to grant you a divorce in writing. This is what is typically called an uncontested divorce.
Depending upon the state you live in, you may not even have to appear in court to have your divorce finalized, if you can show that the divorce is uncontested and you have worked everything out. However, many states do require short court hearings when minor children are involved.
