Divorce kits are found all over the internet and even in some office supply stores. I believe there are certain things that should not be purchased from from an office supply store or even online. Professional legal services falls into that category. Therefore, I strive to offer affordable representation for drafting uncontested divorces because I don’t want to see people waste their money on do it yourself divorce kits.
Common Problems with Do it Yourself Divorce Kits
- You don’t know what you are getting with an internet divorce kit.
- You don’t know if a lawyer drafted the paperwork.
- You don’t know if anyone has successfully used the kit to get a divorce in your county.
- You don’t know if the divorce kit has all the provisions that you need to include in your divorce.
- If your divorce is not granted, will the company have a divorce lawyer help you correct divorce?
- While a guarantee is great, if you don’t get your divorce what good is a guarantee?
What good is a guarantee if you don’t get your divorce?
While I cannot say that every Internet divorce kit will be unsuccessful in getting you a divorce in Alabama, I can say that I have represented clients that have unsuccessfully tried to get their divorce using an internet divorce kit. Often clients come to me after they purchase an Internet divorce kit complaining that they don’t know how to complete the divorce, or they have already filed some paperwork with the court using the Internet divorce.
What to do if the court rejects your divorce paperwork?
Notification of Deficiencies
The court will notify you if your case has been rejected. The clerk will put your case on a disposition docket. A disposition docket is a special docket that contains all divorce cases that have not been properly submitted or has missing paperwork. Furthermore, the clerks are not allowed to give any legal advice. Therefore, they are not allowed to help you.
Failure to Make Corrections
If you do not make the required corrections, your case will be dismissed. You will lose your filing fee. You will also lose the time in which your divorce has been pending. In other words, you will have to start all over. In Alabama you have to wait 30 days before you can get your divorce. It is called a cooling off period. If your case is dismissed, your cooling-off period would have to start over. In other words, you’ll have to wait another 30 days before you can get your divorce. Also if you’re getting married to another person, you cannot get married to that person until 60 days after the divorce decree.
How Correct your Divorce Paperwork
When there are deficiencies with the court file because a person used Internet divorce kit, I just simply redraft all of the paperwork. It is too difficult just correct the mistakes that I see in the divorce kit. Therefore, the parties have to review and sign all the paperwork once more, and I have to file the amended paperwork with the court. Once again, paperwork has to be reviewed by the clerk and receive the judge’s signature.
I frequently tell clients that you don’t perform your own surgeries or you don’t pull your own teeth. So why risk doing your own divorce? There are certain rights, and obligations that have to be addressed in the divorce. Leave that to an attorney to discuss and go over those options with you.
