One Lawyer Divorce
Your divorce should not cost more than your wedding.
Your divorce does not have to be messy or expensive.
Many people who are contemplating divorce call us and ask if one attorney can handle the whole thing.
The answer is YES if the personalities of the soon-to-be ex- spouses and the facts of the case are suitable for One Lawyer Divorce.
“Suitable” in this instance means that the spouses are capable of working things out on their own freely, fairly, and reasonably. Their need for an attorney is merely to prepare the papers and shepherd the case through the legal system.
One Lawyer Divorce is NOT for cases where one of the spouses is a bully, or is mean-spirited, abusive, stubborn, unreasonable, controlling, suffers from an emotional or mental impairment, or is otherwise difficult to deal with.
How Does A One Lawyer Divorce Work?
Once the spouses have agreed to the various terms of their settlement agreement, one or both visits a lawyer to explain their situation and what they want done.
The lawyer makes it clear that he or she cannot ethically represent both sides of a case and may only serve as the attorney for one of the spouses. The non-represented spouse is asked to sign a document acknowledging that he or she has been advised that the lawyer only represents the other spouse. While the terms of the settlement are openly discussed at the meeting, no legal advice is given to the non-represented party.
The attorney reviews the terms of the parties’ settlement agreement to see if it meets the standards of what a court will accept and checks to see if the parties have missed any items that are typically included in such agreements. If it is a “go”, the attorney prepares all the necessary documents and processes the divorce though the legal system.
At all times, the non-represented spouse may confer with or retain his or her own attorney. He or she is always free to take the proposed agreement to another attorney to see if the agreement is fair; or, at the very least, check to see if the agreement says what he or she thinks it says.
When all the papers are signed and returned, the lawyer files them with the court and arranges for a court date. The spouse who is the client must be in court on that day for a very brief Hearing and for entry of the Judgment for Dissolution. The non-represented spouse is invited to be in court also, but his or her presence is not required because everything has been pre-signed.
This entire divorce process is typically completed within 21 days after the parties return the signed documents to the lawyer.
What Does A One Lawyer Divorce Cost?
We offer flat-fee divorces for reasonable people for $3,950.00 – this includes all court costs and filing fees.
There are no hourly fees to worry about.