So you want the cheapest divorce in Illinois? Think again. In fact, you don’t even want the second cheapest. I’m a divorce lawyer, and I know how this stuff works. Let me explain – and avoid some major problems.
What is the cheapest divorce?
The cheapest possible divorce is one you handle completely on your own. That’s not a good idea. But I know what you’re thinking: “some lawyer is just trying to convince me to hire him. “ But that’s not the case.
There are a lot of problems with a person trying to do his or her own divorce.
Major flaws in settlement terms
Perhaps most importantly is the substance of the terms of your divorce settlement. As you may know, an uncontested divorce in Illinois is one where both parties agree on all aspects of the case. But that doesn’t mean you can be sloppy about it. And no matter how smart you are, and unless you are a divorce lawyer, there are probably a lot of things about divorce law in Illinois that you don’t know.
Here are some questions that can illustrate what I’m talking about
- Do you know what the term marital the state means? What about non marital state?
- Do you know how something will starts off as part of the non marital estate of one of the spouses can transform into something that is part of the marital estate?
- If you own real estate, do you know what the document is called that can change the name on the deed from both spouses to one spouse? Do you know how to handle transfer tax documents? Do you know some of the problems that occur when two people are on a mortgage for a house that is being awarded to only one person?
- If you have kids, are you familiar with how to handle the types of problems that often come up after divorce? Did you know that Illinois no longer used the term “child custody”? Do you know that you have to take a parenting class if you have kids, and that the class you have to take varies by county?
Don’t screw up your life
Divorce can impact every aspect of your life. Messing up with just one of the aspects of your divorce can cause you many problems years later. while there is no way to prevent every possible problem, using an experienced uncontested divorce lawyer can help you avoid problems that can create undo pain after a divorce.
Divorce procedure is confusing
The There are also procedural challenges in a divorce. Various counties have different ways of doing things. They have different requirements for what needs to be filed. For example, Cook County requires some documents that Will County and Lake County do not. And vice versa. If you don’t file the right documents, then you will not be able to get divorced.
You can be turned away by the judge
I have often seen people come to court to get divorced, then be turned away by the judge because they don’t have all the necessary documents period or they haven’t had their spouse sign in the right place. You get the point. It’s pretty much a nightmare to come to court, expecting your doors to be finalized, then having to go back and do more work and communicate with your spouse again. It’s better just to get the divorce done and get it over with.
Filing a case can be hard
Figuring out how to file a case isn’t easy either. There’s basically a couple ways to go about it. You could try to follow it online by yourself. But the online system is hard for lawyers to learn, let alone people who have never done it before. You could also visit court and someone there might be able to help you. But by the time you get done with that, he will have likely wasted half a day.
Screwing up wastes time
The point here is that you are likely to waste a lot of time simply trying to figure out how to file a case, then actually doing it.
So you need to think about how much your time is worth. Do you want to keep taking time off work to mess around in court? I don’t think so.
“Online divorce” is dangerous
A lot of people try to use cheap online divorce websites to generate divorce documents. But those websites are dangerous because they produce low-quality documents that people don’t understand. In fact, many of them are owned by shady foreign companies and collect very personal information that isn’t even required by the court.
Watch out!
We can probably offer you a flat fee to represent you in your uncontested divorce. That way, your divorce has a greater chance of wrapping up quickly and without much hassle.