Sometimes people getting a divorce in Utah think they can save a lot of money by representing themselves in court instead of hiring an experienced divorce lawyer. But, the likelihood is actually that a DIY divorce will end up costing much more overall. The divorce process is like a minefield of financial risks for people who plunge into it on their own without legally protecting their interests.
There is a reason why that old cliche is still alive: “He who represents himself/herself has a fool for a client.” Even a lawyer should have his or her own lawyer to resolve a legal problem. Why?
Lose Legal Rights You’re Not Even Aware Of
Of course, if you don’t have an attorney, you don’t pay attorney fees upfront in the divorce process, and some people do get through the simplest possible divorces without legal help.
However, many many divorces that started out seeming very simple do not stay simple throughout the entire process until the judge’s final ruling. Many people end up with disaster stories about representing themselves in their own divorces.
Forfeiting Your Rights in the Divorce Process
People who represent themselves in family court typically have ended up losing many of their rights in the divorce process, which could have protected them from deep financial losses in the outcome. They were exposed because they didn’t have an experienced divorce attorney to guide them around the common pitfalls and to stand up and fight for their best interests.
People who represent themselves in a divorce are often unlikely ever to become aware of the rights they forfeited in the process that would have led to a much more favorable outcome for them.
Grieving While Handling Your Own Legal Case
In a divorce, people go through the same stages of grief as in coping with the death of a loved one. Even if you’re maintaining a calm exterior, experiencing that level of prolonged emotional strain and upset generates passions that cloud a person’s reasoning and judgment.
So, while you’re going through a divorce, it’s not a good time to try to manage the most critical legal matters of your life. Those may include asset division, debt distribution, child custody, child support, parent schedule establishment, spousal support, and other issues. Going alone into divorce court in that condition, and with everything that is at stake financially and parentally, makes individuals much less likely to achieve the outcome they hope for.
When stress is extremely high, as in a typical divorce, people are less able to reason objectively. Naturally, we’re so personally engrossed in our legal crisis and personal situation that emotions blur our view of practical strategies for realizing our long-term best interests.
Legally Protecting Your Rights and Interests
So, representing yourself in a do it yourself divorce is more likely to cost much more over the long term than you would have paid to have the benefit of your own lawyer. Your attorney knows how to defend all your rights fully and knows how to work within the court system successfully. A good divorce attorney in Salt Lake City UT has a track record of negotiating, mediating, and litigating divorce cases with outcomes that have been in the best interests of the families.
The total cost of letting your rights go unprotected in a court case can include serious loss of money, severe impacts on your children’s futures, and on your family’s quality of life.
Why You Need A Divorce Lawyer
Having a lawyer guiding the divorce proceedings for you not only shields you from having to negotiate directly with your ex and from all the emotional struggles that can be involved. With a lawyer, you can more firmly and reasonably assert your position on the critical points of your case.
Just some of those you’ll likely need to address and prevail on in a Utah divorce court include these, among numerous others:
- How will the marital assets be divided?
- What do you want the outcome to be of the child custody matter?
- What will be in the child support order? Spousal support order?
- How much time will you have with your kids under the parenting plan?
An experienced divorce attorney is fully familiar with all facets of Utah divorce law and former precedent-setting cases. An established Salt Lake City UT divorce lawyer is experienced in working through the state’s family court system, which involves:
- Following all court rules
- Meeting all court deadlines
- Mandatory legal document filings
- Other requirements, as necessary for your case to continue progressing through the court system to a conclusion.
DIY divorce papers filed with the court are subject to all the same scrutiny and legal requirements as an attorney’s filings and can impede or even stop your effort to complete your divorce case if not handled as required by the court rules and the law.
When You Need Salt Lake City’s Best Divorce Lawyer
Attorney David Pedrazas has been helping people in the process of divorce in Utah get through the process, obtain a favorable outcome, and move on with their lives.
