Divorcing Without An Attorney Money-saver Or Ticket To Disaster?

By Author: David D. Stein
Total Articles: 16
Comment this article

Many people ask the question; do we need to hire a lawyer to obtain a Judgment of Dissolution? The short answer is, no – you don’t have to hire a lawyer.

Similarly, you don’t have to hire a lawyer should you find yourself on trial for murder. The law will allow a mentally competent person to act as their own attorney. Of course, should you find yourself a defendant in a criminal action; it would be well advised to seek the services of a good lawyer.

Keep in mind, there is more than 1 kind of divorce action. There is the well-know adversarial action. The sort of battle-to the-death portrayed in the movie, The War of the Roses. In this scenario the parties want a fight. They want a “No Prisoners”, “Scorched Earth” Battle Royal! They will ask their friends and colleagues for a San Francisco divorce lawyer who is a cross between a bulldog and a barracuda. They will mortgage their retirement and squander their children’s education to pay a fortune to a divorce lawyer with a reputation as a flame-thrower and a gladiator. Good luck to these poor misguided souls.

The other type of divorce ...
... action is – naturally enough – the non-adversarial divorce. In a non-adversarial action there may well be, and usually are, points of contention or disagreement, but the parties are enlightened enough to know they can resolve their differences by negotiation and not have to use confrontational tactics.

The fastest, cheapest, best way in a non-adversarial action to obtain a divorce decree is by using the services of a divorce mediator. Unfortunately, at least in California, the profession of divorce mediator is currently unregulated. What this means is that there is no government agency assuring that an individual holding themselves out as a divorce mediator is in any way qualified to perform the task. This is an area that really does need to have government regulation. Divorcing couples faces important legal issues that will impact significantly on their future well-being. There should be some state agency that has certified that your mediator is qualified to understand and communicate the law on the myriad of topics that present in even the simplest of marital dissolutions. Unfortunately, at this time, there are a great many “divorce mediators” out there that are unqualified to in any way opine on the complex issues that divorcing couples must face.

If you hire San Francisco Divorce lawyers you can at least go the State Bar and assure yourself that the person you’ve hired is indeed a member of the Bar in good standing and see what, if any, discipline actions have been taken against them.

In a divorce action, couples that want to achieve a negotiated resolution to their dispute do not need a lawyer as an advocate, what they need is a Divorce lawyer/mediator as a guide. By hiring a mediator who is also a lawyer they have at least some assurance that the person they hired has the training and education required to explain the law. Soon, we can hope, there will also be licensing for mediators so that consumers can see that the professional they are considering has been licensed, certified and insured by a state agency.