Jun 20, 2011

Legal Options for Divorce

Divorce and General Articles

When you are faced with the difficult challenges of the divorce transition, your most important decision is where to turn for advice.

Here are your options:

The One Lawyer Divorce:

Sometimes a husband or wife will hire an attorney to do the legal work and ask the other person to sign all legal documents without having them reviewed by another attorney.  Of course, the person without the attorney is told that the spouse’s attorney is “friendly” and they will save money and will not lose anything.  The people who walk down this path often find out afterwards that they lost important legal and financial rights without knowing it at the time.  They can hire an attorney and challenge the agreement, but it is far better to have the right advice and guidance from the beginning.

The Divorce Lawyer:

Often time, friends and family will recommend hiring an aggressive divorce lawyer to “protect your rights.”  On this path, the average couple spends $30,000 and two years of their life locked in a bitter battle.  Many contentious couples spend much more of their nest egg.  When parents take this path often, their children suffer permanent emotional harm.  At the end of this path, everyone concerned is financially and mentally depleted. The quality of their lives after divorce is significantly reduced.  Couples often enter this process with the thought that “it won’t happen to us,” but rarely succeed.

The DIY Divorce:

Some people try using the internet or formbooks for divorce.  These options do not address the unique legal issues of each couple and they often leave many important legal “holes” which can lead to losses, lawsuits and other nightmares.  This “penny-wise, dollar foolish” path can lead to nightmares for both parties.

The Mediated Divorce:

Alpha professionals, attorneys, psychologists and accountants who are experienced mediators, work with couples to help make good decisions and navigate the necessary legal procedures.  The end result is a legal divorce agreement that reflects well advised decisions by couples reducing the pain and cost of divorce.