Going through a divorce is stressful, even if it is a mutually agreed upon change in the relationship. Contrary to what you see on television or the movies, many couples in Chicago decide that staying together is not in their best interests, but co-parenting and maintaining a positive relationship with their child is.
The Myth and the Reality
For these couples, the thought of doing their own divorce, or a pro se divorce, seems very appealing. After all, it is very low cost, offers a speedy dissolution of the relationship and at first blush, seems to have the potential to keep their relationship as co-parents amicable and peaceful.
However, the reality is that there are a lot of decisions to be made you have probably not even considered. This can include long-term tax obligations and implications, residential and non-residential custodian status, and even issues regarding debt and liability.
The Solution
Hiring a family law lawyer is the best way to ensure a peaceful, agreeable and mutually satisfactory divorce settlement. There are several reasons to use a family attorney, and they include:
- Preventing omissions – if you do your own divorce from those packages or downloadable forms and miss something, including an asset disclosure or a retirement benefit, you will have to go back to court to correct the problem. This can actually end up costing you more money.
- Future behavior – at the time to sit down and agree you will have a peaceful divorce that is probably what you are both thinking will be the status quo. However, as issues arise and people start dating and issues with what belonged to who start cropping up the conflict can escalate. By using a family law lawyer, many of these issues can be prevented through experience and expertise in helping couples through a divorce.
- Incorrect information – not all of the divorce packages, or the information online, is accurate. When you go into court with a pro se divorce, the judge cannot provide legal advice, which means you may need a family law lawyer to correct inaccurate information and ensure your divorce paperwork is complete and accurate.
Hiring a Chicago divorce attorney to review anything you agree upon with your spouse or partner is very important. If there are no issues, it gives you peace or mind, and if there are problems, they can be corrected before the divorce is finalized, saving you on the cost of having to undo the mistake.