# Arbitrator or lawyer



## Bigsho61 (Sep 10, 2015)

So I have a question for you all. I'm working on getting my crap together to serve my wife with papers. Unfortunately we don't have a whole hell of a lot of money. A friend of mine suggested using an arbitrator instead of a lawyer because it will be a lot cheaper rather than us both paying for lawyers. Has anyone ever used an arbitrator instead of a lawyer? Monday I'm meeting with a lawyer to start the process but afterwards I was going to see if my wife would be open to using an arbitrator to save costs. What do you guys think?


----------



## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

Arbitration is a good idea if the two of you can agree on most things. You can always use a lawyer for the one or two issues that you do not agree on.

Look online for your state's court self help site. They usually have a lot of info, forms and even tell how to do a divorce yourself. There are books for just about every state that talk about doing your own divorce. I've seen them on Amazon. There are tons of lawyer sites of every state that discuss topics. The point is that the more you educate yourself and your wife, the more likely you are to save money on a divorce.


----------



## arbitrator (Feb 13, 2012)

*In Texas, most family courts require the couple in court to make an attempt at mediation first!
*
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Haiku (Apr 9, 2014)

arbitrator said:


> In Texas, most family courts require the couple in court to make an attempt at mediation first!


In my state too, but only if the couple can't reach a mutual agreement and tracking to court. 

Bigsho61 - if your spouse and you can agree on a settlement then could you not just use one attorney and have him/her draw up the papers? This isn't without risk and not a solution for everyone. But it's an option in some situations. 

I can imagine it's a difficult time for you. Best wishes and good luck.


----------

