DIY Divorce?

Do It yourself divorce or hire an experienced uncontested divorce attorney?

I see lots of people filing, or at least trying to file, their own uncontested divorce papers. And make no mistake, you can do your own uncontested divorce, at least if you have no kids, no property (including pensions), and no joint credit card or other debt. But it might take a lot longer and you might have to take off time from work to come to back to court several times. And be frustrated.

Special software makes the difference
If you are retired, or perhaps working part time and have nothing else to do, and you don’t mind doing coming to court and doing things over again and again, you don’t need any special software. The court will provide you with all of the forms you need. But the software makes it so much easier, and it automatically ensures that all the dates of birth, social security numbers, addresses, and all other information is correctly and accurately copied into each required document. The software also automatically avoids/ detects errors. The software that I use, and most attorneys that I know use, is called Drafting Libraries. This software is updated online to reflects all recent changes (and these are frequent) in the law. It works very much like the Turbotax program you might be familiar with (software program that allows you to do your own income tax returns), in that it asks you a series of fairly simple questions. But the software costs $300. I am not sure if it makes sense to buy a program that you are only going to use one time, when you can hire an experienced lawyer to prepare all of the papers, go to court, and do everything else that has to be done for only a little more money. My own fees start at only $499 (plus court costs which you will have to pay anyway). But if you are bound and determined to do it yourself, do yourself a favor, and at least use the software.

Why not use a paralegal instead?
In NY State there is no recognized certification or special licensing requirement for paralegals. This means that anyone can call himself or herself a “paralegal”. So paralegals are essentially unlicensed and unregulated. Licensed attorneys, on the other hand, have a vested interest in protecting their licenses and their reputations. Here in NY we have one of the toughest bar exams in the country. Licensed attorneys must re-register every two years, must keep the court and the public apprised of their current business address, must use written retainer agreements, and must take 12 hours of continuing education courses each year to stay up to date with changes in the law. A paralegal can take your money and mess up your divorce or even disappear with your money.

How about the big document assembly services?
There are companies out there that operate on a national scale who “do” uncontested divorces in NYS. I am not going to mention names, I assume you know who I am talking about. You should know that some of these companies have been sued in various states by the State’s attorney general or other government regulatory body for practicing law without a license. In most states it is actually a crime for anyone who is not a licensed attorney to practice law. “Practicing law” includes going to court for someone else, preparing legal papers, and giving legal advice. Because of these types of problems the document assembly services mostly work by providing you with a large set of forms, together with many pages of generic instructions.

Some time ago, a client came in to hire me for a simple uncontested case, after having paid several hundred dollars to a well known document assembly company. Once he got all the forms he was totally confused and frustrated. Out of curiosity I asked him to see the forms, which he actually let me keep because he had no use for them. The vast majority of the forms were unnecessary because they were intended either for contested cases or for much more complicated uncontested cases where there were children involved.

Do it yourself, use a paralegal, use a document assembly service, or use an experienced, licensed and reputable New York attorney- you decide. Its your money, your decision, and  your life.