Many divorcing parties believe that if they involve lawyers in their divorce process things can get “messy” or “contested”, and thus they proceed towards an uncontested divorce without knowing (1) what their rights are and (2) if their divorce decree is drafted in a way that reflects the parties’ intentions. Hiring an attorney does not mean that your divorce proceedings have to become contested. In fact, most divorces do not proceed to a trial and end by the agreement of both parties.
Employing a lawyer for your uncontested divorce can be extremely helpful, and assuming that you and your spouse really have truly reached an agreement, having an attorney can be cost effective. Once you and your spouse have reached a full agreement, the attorney that you retain drafts the agreement into a document to be signed by both parties and entered before the Court. Having an attorney draft this document ensures that it is drafted in proper form so that it is legally enforceable and so that it properly reflects what the parties’ intentions were. Both parties may choose to hire an attorney. One attorney will draft the agreement per their client’s instructions and then send it to the other party’s attorney for review and comments or modifications. The parties, through counsel, negotiate the document so that it reflects the full agreement of the parties. They also make sure that it is in a form that will not be rejected by the court. There are other ancillary documents other than the divorce decree that must be filed in order to proceed to finalization. Attorneys make sure that this is done efficiently and expeditiously. In fact, once a full divorce agreement is ready for entry and signed by both parties, attorneys typically can schedule a finalization date within seven (7) business days, or soon thereafter, as all of the parties’ schedules permit.
Our firm drafts many uncontested divorce agreements. We seek to help clients that have reached an agreement so that they can finalize efficiently and cost effectively and our attorneys don’t create problems when there simply aren’t any. If you are contemplating hiring an attorney for your uncontested divorce, please call our office to set up a consultation.