Online Divorce - Not the Way to Go
We have all seen the commercials about doing your own will by buying a template online. These commercials claim they can guide you through a divorce for a couple of hundred dollars, no muss, and no fuss. Would I recommend anyone use this method? No.
Divorce is too complicated to be done through one-size-fits-all templates. It is a way to legally dissolve a marriage, and it involves not only the two parties – the husband and wife – but also the State. There are legal issues both parties must agree to, documents that must be completed and filed with the Court, and a myriad of issues that usually come up along the way.
Moreover, there are reported cases of couples that find out, years after signing an online divorce agreement, that they were not, in fact, legally divorced. Also, bear in mind that States differ in their criteria for divorce, and some of these online services may not be up to date on the subtle differences between State laws.
In my experience, if both spouses have the wherewithal and maturity to work together to dissolve their marriage, the best way to do that is through collaborative law or mediation. In such cases, lawyers make sure that all the documents are correct and that there are no loose ends. It might be more expensive than the online version, but it will be worth more than the paper it is written on.
