Do You Need a Divorce Lawyer to Handle Your Divorce?
You have decided to end your marriage with your spouse. However, you don’t know whether you should hire a lawyer to handle the case. The truth is that you don’t need to hire a lawyer for a divorce. Do it yourself divorce is now popular among middle-income couples. Yet, every divorce situation is unique. The following are 6 considerations that you will want to take into account when deciding whether you need a divorce lawyer.
- Do You Have Any Marital Assets or Children?
It is not necessary to hire a lawyer if you’ve only been married for a short time and you have no marital asset. With no marital asset or children, you can quickly file the divorce with the court to relinquish all rights. All you need to do is to fill in the right forms. The forms can be obtained from the local courthouse. However, if you’ve been married for some time, and have children and gathered some assets, you’ll want to hire a family law attorney to help you handle the divorce case. Amarillo divorce attorneys can protect your interests if your spouse fights back and want any of these things.
- Does Divorce Involve Significant Financial Issues?
The lawyer can be of great help if the divorce involves a lot of financial issues. For example, you have been dependent on your spouse for financial income throughout the marriage. You and your spouse have joint debts and don’t know who should settle how much portion of the debt. You are suspicious that your spouse is lying about his financial position. The lawyer can also provide legal advice if you are having a problem with the arrangement for the children. For example, both parties cannot agree on in whose house the children will stay, child maintenance fee and stepchildren.
- Are You Familiar with the Divorce Laws?
You should hire a lawyer if you are not familiar with the divorce law. Each state has its divorce requirements. If you are not familiar with the law, you will find it difficult to understand the statutes and will end up making mistakes when completing the legal paperwork. Besides, it can also lead you to accidentally agree on something that you are unaware when signing documents. As a result, you end up getting a settlement that is less than what you expected. It can get expensive to modify the divorce settlement once it is finalized. With a family law attorney, you can prevent all these mistakes from happening.
- Do You Have an Abusive Spouse?
You should hire a lawyer if the divorce involves an urgent situation. For example, you have an abusive spouse and you feel that your children are at risks. In this case, you should get a restraining order and move the children to a safe place first. If you don’t do this, your spouse can charge you of kidnapping the children.
- Do You Have Communication Problems with Your Spouse?
You have communication problems with the spouse and you face problems in negotiating a settlement with him. If you have a lawyer, he can quickly get it settled by talking things with your spouse or his lawyer. He will ensure that you don’t get cheated by your spouse of the divorce settlement. Even if you have settled with your spouse, it is still better to get a family law attorney to review the agreement before putting down a signature. This will ensure that you get a fair settlement with your spouse. Making a single mistake like checking the wrong box in the form can produce a negative consequence.
- Are You Afraid that Your Spouse Will Not Pay Alimony
A lawyer is also necessary if you are afraid of your spouse not keeping his word to the divorce settlement. For example, you are afraid that your spouse will not make the maintenance payment he promised after divorce. The lawyer can help you to enforce the alimony order if this situation happens.
