DIY divorce may seem like a bizarre concept, however if you are short on cash and cannot afford to spend thousands on lawyer’s fees then this could be an option for you. Going through a divorce is emotionally draining and there is nothing worse than having to deal with the financial drain at the same time. DIY divorce may seem like a fantastic way to get rid of the horrible spouse however there are some catches.
- If you have children and the custody of the children is under contention then you cannot conduct a DIY divorce as the decision of who will get custody will lie with a judge and therefore you will have to go to court and are not eligible for a DIY divorce.
- If both parties are not agreed on the terms of the divorce then you cannot apply for this kind of divorce. This is because if there needs to be divide of assets between the two parties and they are not agreed on who should get what, then a judge would also need to decide on this matter.
- If the person being divorced is no longer in the country, you cannot apply for this kind of divorce and therefore would have to consult an attorney in order to proceed with the divorce.
Should you however comply with the above and you are both in agreement about everything then getting a divorce can be quick and easy. There are numerous websites out there that punt the DIY divorce and offer their services for a small fee. One such website is www.diylaw.co.za where they ask a few questions in order to determine if you are eligible. Should you qualify to conduct a DIY divorce then all you have to do is fill in the forms that can be downloaded from their websites and pay an admin fee and you are a for away.
Although this may seem like quite a callous and cold way to end a marriage, this could be the best thing for you to do. One reason for this is that you do not need spend time with an attorney discussing what went wrong, how you want to split up the assets, and basically just rehashing all of the emotional trauma that the divorce is causing.
The majority of the population do not fully understand the law and their rights. As a result, their partners may end up taking more than they are entitled to. In addition to this, you may end up spending more time waiting to get all of your forms processed that you would have if you had consulted an attorney. One reason for this is that you may end up gathering the wrong documents and then spending an entire day waiting in a queue at a court house only to find out that you do not have the correct information needed.
From this point of view it may seem best to consult a lawyer in order to determine that you are getting what you are entitled to and are not being taken for a ride by your soon to be ex husband or wife. Another benefit of having legal representation is that should for any reason your uncontested divorce become contested, you will then need a lawyer on your side. If you are half way through the process already and this occurs, seek an attorney’s advice immediately.
My advice would be that if you are planning to conduct a divorce on your own, then seek some sort of legal advice before you begin the process. You can visit a university law department or legal aid should you qualify for legal aid and see what they recommend and then continue on with the process yourself.