# No lawyer divorce advice?



## clooneyisagenius (Jul 2, 2011)

Hi all,

I'm hoping to get some insight from people about whether or not we could manage to divorce without lawyers.

Details:
- no kids and no house
- we're both employed and can support ourselves
- we have been communicating civilly about possessions
- no joint bank accounts or credit cards in both names
- we've been married 2 years
- we have no investments together
- we have been physically separated for about 1 month, but emotionally for about 6 [sleeping in different beds, etc...]

We've both agreed that it is the best thing and have agreed [verbally at least] that it will be uncontested and will be filed as a no-fault divorce [we're in New York and qualify for this].

Do you think that filing and going through the process without a lawyer is feasible for us at this moment? THANKS ALL.


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## Shooboomafoo (Mar 30, 2011)

Dont know about the alimony or maintenance requirements if any in NY, but if you guys can agree to it all, you might need help with drafting a decree/agreement at least.
The ability to maintain a decent manner toward one another, and work out all the details of it would most certainly be in your best interest, least of all, financially.

So I say, yes.

Doing it right now in TX.


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## COGypsy (Aug 12, 2010)

We're in a similar situation--no kids, no joint assets, etc. and will be completing all the paperwork ourselves and filing pro se. All the forms and instructions are on the district court website for our county, so the only thing we really can't do ourselves is notarize the documents. They'll do that at the courthouse when we file, so no big deal there either.


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## brighterlight (Aug 13, 2009)

I say if your state allows pro se divorce, you sound like a good candidate for doing it yourself. As shoo mentioned tough, drafting the decree might or might not be easy depending on how the forms are laid out. Remember that what is signed and filed there becomes ironclad in two years in some states so you would not be able to go back and change anything once that "grace period" is up. I haven't seen them.


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## justabovewater (Jun 26, 2011)

We're hoping to do our divorce without lawyers as well, but our situation is different. We have a house which he says he wants no part of and none of the equity in it were I to decide to sell. We have no savings of any kind no 401(k) accounts, basically what's in our checking account is what we have. He wants a few of his own personal belongings and that's all. We have 2 kids, one is 18 the other is 15, but we don't plan to set up any formal visitation schedule because my husband is living 5 houses down at his mothers so my son can see him anytime he wants. So far it's been an amicable break up and he's said a million times he would sign the house over to me (I know there's more to it than that), but that he would sign an SA stating that he wants nothing from the home. He's offered to help me with the mortgage and other bills for as long as he can or until our son turns 18. Do any of you think we can do this on our own if we can draw up an agreement we both agree with? I've seen divorce kits all over the internet that include all the documents you need to do your own divorce, has anyone ever used them?


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## COGypsy (Aug 12, 2010)

justabovewater said:


> We're hoping to do our divorce without lawyers as well, but our situation is different. We have a house which he says he wants no part of and none of the equity in it were I to decide to sell. We have no savings of any kind no 401(k) accounts, basically what's in our checking account is what we have. He wants a few of his own personal belongings and that's all. We have 2 kids, one is 18 the other is 15, but we don't plan to set up any formal visitation schedule because my husband is living 5 houses down at his mothers so my son can see him anytime he wants. So far it's been an amicable break up and he's said a million times he would sign the house over to me (I know there's more to it than that), but that he would sign an SA stating that he wants nothing from the home. He's offered to help me with the mortgage and other bills for as long as he can or until our son turns 18. Do any of you think we can do this on our own if we can draw up an agreement we both agree with? I've seen divorce kits all over the internet that include all the documents you need to do your own divorce, has anyone ever used them?


I'd see if your state website has the forms and instructions before I paid for some generic internet divorce kit. I found the forms in the "self-help-forms" section of the judicial pages on the general state website. All the forms, all the instructions, a flow-chart for the process and I'm only out the filing fees.


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## clooneyisagenius (Jul 2, 2011)

Thanks for the advice, all.




COGypsy said:


> I'd see if your state website has the forms and instructions before I paid for some generic internet divorce kit. I found the forms in the "self-help-forms" section of the judicial pages on the general state website. All the forms, all the instructions, a flow-chart for the process and I'm only out the filing fees.


After reading this I checked NY state's website and they do have all of the forms, instructions on how to fill out each individual form, and what order/timeline for all forms.

Thanks! This is definitely what we'll be doing. :smthumbup:


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## Rico (Jul 28, 2010)

or just go through mediation, it's like $450 per session and all the paperwork can be drafted and done within a 4 week span.


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## sprinter (Jul 25, 2011)

My last divorce required no lawyer. She went down and did all the paperwork and we filled them out. We were divorced in a month. Depending on your state, you may be able to simply go down and get the paperwork.


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## HurtinginTN (Feb 22, 2011)

Shooboomafoo said:


> Doing it right now in TX.


Uncontested? Are you using a lawyer or completely do-it-yourself? My filing fee is $350. According to the info here, I can get the documents from the courthouse and just file without a lawyer. I do have a lawyer that will draw everything up IF we agree on EVERYTHING for $1,000. If we already agree, why even go through a lawyer?


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