In many areas of the world, you're not legally obligated to have an attorney represent you when going through a divorce. A couple can often write up their own agreement when it comes to property division, custody and visitation, and spousal support, and if they both agree on that agreement then the court will simply file it and dissolve the marriage.
However, thinking you can or should try to handle your own divorce without the services of an attorney can be a mistake and can hurt you in the long run, even if you and your spouse seem to agree on many details. Note a few reasons why this is and how a divorce professional can help you.
1. You may not be thinking of future changes
You may be willing to pay your ex-spouse monetary support right now, but what if you should lose your job or that other spouse should get a better job or get married? If you have not thought about how your situation can change in the future, you may be stuck with the agreement you write up today.
A divorce attorney will be familiar with how situations often change over time and how those changes affect divorced couples. They can review your initial agreement and suggest changes that will take into account these changes that you may be overlooking.
2. You may be forgetting important details
As an example, suppose you and your spouse agree to share custody of the children, and they will stay at each parent's house every other week. What about holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions? One parent may have religious festivals and observations that fall on certain days and which the other parent doesn't observe; will exceptions be made to the visitation arrangement?
Details like these are also common for a divorce attorney to work out between couples, and you can save yourself tremendous conflict by having him or her review your agreement and note if you've overlooked details about custody, spousal support, and everything else.
3. You may not be protecting your own rights
Very often divorcing couples write up agreements according to how they think the law works for them, without really understanding how those laws do work. In turn, they may be overlooking their rights when it comes to property and support. Law firms like Griffiths & Godecke can ensure that your rights are protected according to the law, and this in turn can keep you from wanting to revisit that divorce agreement down the road when it may be too late to protect those rights.
Share23 March 2015
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