Are You Ready for Divorce Court?

Most pro se divorce litigants aren't prepared for divorce court  - statistics suggest that over 50% of pro se litigants leave the courtroom feeling beat up, rejected and lost. There are several very important things that a pro se litigant should considering doing before he or she even files for divorce. Here are a few suggestions if you're contemplating divorce.

Study your State's family laws and consider having a consult with a divorce attorney even if you're planning on representing yourself. Usually your first consult is free - sometimes a consult will save you from making major errors when filing for divorce.

Once you've decided to represent yourself in court, you've acknowledged that you're now wearing the hat of legal counsel. Check your state's Government site and learn how to file divorce papers, stay within the Statute of Limitations and follow the correct procedures when serving papers on  your spouse.

Study everything you can get your hands on about division of marital assets, child support, alimony and pre nuptials (if you or your spouse have prenuptials.) Study courtroom procedures - address the judge as "your honor" not Mr. or Mrs. Johnson. Learn how to prepare your case for court and how to eliminate the "he said, she said" testimony.

There are self help divorce venues in your State, find out how to do interrogatories correctly or how to request temporary orders until the divorce is final. Temporary orders cover child custody, alimony, who remains in the home, who pays the mortgage payments and who is responsible for health insurance etc. until the divorce is finalized. These orders are strictly temporary and may be changed by the judge when he or she makes their final decisions.

There's absolutely no good reason to go to court totally unprepared - this requires determination and diligence on your part. It's sort of like preparing to prepare - do your homework first. Go back several years gather up receipts, create a children's log showing which party has been the primary caregiver, get check stubs, credit card bills, mortgage information, retirement funds - get hard copies of anything and everything that you and your spouse have or are responsible for...

 You have a choice here - you can let your emotions and anger dictate your actions or you can methodically take time to prepare a winning divorce case.

To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.
Confucius 

As Always,

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