“There are many times when a husband and a wife mutually decide to end a marriage and decide to do so on their own terms.” 

While a do-it yourself divorce “kit” may be appealing to some people, we have had many clients who have started “working on the divorce” on their own, and after months of confusion called an attorney anyways.  Just because you call a lawyer, it doesn’t mean your divorce will be nasty contested fight. 

Our Memphis Divorce Lawyers always encourage out of court settlement and free communication.  We will guide you through all the issues that need to be settled, not just what you think needs to be settled.  We can provide options and solutions, knowledge and interaction that just won’t come from filling out the forms.  While we only represent one spouse/one client, we are ethically bound and guided to always explain to the other spouse their rights and encourage them to seek independent legal advice for all matters.  We represent our client zealously, and we will not misrepresent that to the other spouse

“An attorney can be an invaluable tool during the divorce process and can obviously provide options, knowledge and interaction that a divorce kit can not”

Divorce is complex.When a husband and wife have children, there are many issues that need to be covered in a divorce decree. These issues range from rights and duties of parents and possession schedules to child support and health insurance. To add to the level of complexity, all states are different when it comes to issues surrounding children.  Most “divorce kits” found on the Internet are just general forms and are not state specific. Our Memphis Divorce Lawyers can explain the relevant statutes regarding custody, the rights assigned to parents and how child support is calculated.

Laws are subject to change. A lawyer’s duty is to stay on top of all the changes in the law and advise a client how the law will affect their case and it’s outcome.    Not all states calculate a person’s child support obligation the same way. Our Memphis Divorce lawyers will calculate a person’s child support obligation and make sure that their client does not pay above or below guideline support. 

Standard visitation may not work for you. Our Memphis Divorce lawyers can help you develop visitation schedules that will allow a person to spend the same amount of time with their children as standard visitation. An attorney can assess what issues may arise after a divorce is finalized. With this in mind, an attorney can structure a final decree that will protect a person when issues arise post divorce. Even though a divorce may begin as “uncontested,” it can quickly become litigious. Should this happen, an attorney can provide insight as to the court’s policies and procedures.

“No matter how many or few issues each divorce may have, an attorney’s role and the benefit he or she provides a person and their children should not be underestimated.”

Source of post: Dad’s Divorce Blog  copyright of Cordell & Cordell

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 1:57 pm and is filed under Divorce Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.