Where To Find Divorce Help
Do you want to get divorced, but you're not sure how to start the process? You don't know if you need to get a lawyer, or how much it will cost, or when you should tell your spouse about your decision, or whether your spouse has to agree to a divorce. You need divorce help.
Your Spouse Wants To Get Divorced
You also need divorce help if your spouse has just told you that he or she wants a divorce, and you feel too paralyzed to do anything about it. Oftentimes, the other spouse does not want a divorce, and didn't even see it coming. They feel blindsided. They don't know what will happen next, or how to make sure they get everything they are entitled to. A parent staying at home with children who has foregone employment opportunities is especially vulnerable and needs divorce help in this situation.
Both Husband And Wife Want To Get Divorced
The other kind of people who need divorce help are couples who, acting together, agree that their marriage is irretrievably broken and they both decide, virtually at the same time, that divorce is the best next step for them to take. They are disappointed in themselves, but they are both ready to move on.
Free Resources
Divorce laws change from state to state. Rules and restrictions that apply to residents of New York who are getting divorced are drastically different than the rules and restrictions that apply, for instance, to residents of California. Divorce help should be local help. That said, there are many self-help web sites that answer basic questions about divorce. Many questions can be answered just by typing them into a search engine like Google or Yahoo.
However, the best free resource may be the web site for the state courts in your state. Divorce actions are always filed in state court - not federal court. Virtually every state or county court web site has a section on divorces. There you will find answers to questions about filing fees, waiting periods, forms, whether you must appear before a judge, how you can do it yourself, and so forth. Do not overlook this valuable resource for divorce help!
Paid Resources
If you have children, or if you have a home or land or significant debt, you will probably need to pay for divorce help in the form of a counselor, a mediator, a lawyer, or all three. Some say a common rule of thumb is to look at the cost of your wedding, divide it by one-half, and that is approximately how much your divorce will cost. This isn't always true, but generally speaking, anyone who can afford a lavish wedding will have monetary assets that merit spending enough money on a divorce to make sure that you don't go broke.
