The decision to divorce is one of the most challenging and stressful decisions a person can make during life. Besides emotional tension and problems with adapting to new circumstances, spouses may experience financial woes. The divorce process cost can reach a five-digit amount that is crushingly expensive for many Americans. If you are looking for a low-cost divorce in Georgia, you have a few options. Following these recommendations may help to cut the divorce-related expenses.
Aim to Make Your Divorce Uncontested
Traditionally a dissolution of marriage is considered to be daunting, challenging, and expensive. And all this is related mainly to contested divorces when a couple cannot divide the assets and share care of joint children peacefully. In this case, the spouses have to hire attorneys and pass through court hearings.
Modern Americans that do not want to waste their money on legal proceedings initiate litigation only as a last resort. Today in the USA, only 10% of divorces are contested. The remaining 90% of couples opt for uncontested divorce proceedings. It means that a couple discusses all their issues and agrees on property division, finances, child custody, and support without a trial. The result of this rational negotiation process is a Settlement Agreement. After finalizing this document and filing for divorce, the court will issue the final decree.
A Divorce Without An Attorney
In Georgia, divorce is no-fault-based. A petitioner doesn’t need to prove any fault, and the respondent cannot object to the petition for such divorce. The common grounds for divorce are “incompatibility” or “irretrievable breakdown.” The state allows a proceeding without a lawyer. In this case, individuals represent their interests by themselves. It is also called a ‘pro se divorce’ or a DIY divorce.
Earlier, do-it-yourself divorces were associated only with couples in a marriage for a short period and no complex marital assets to divide. However, there are no legal requirements. Couples with children and shared property or finances still can do without an attorney’s assistance to reduce the cost of divorce. If there are no complicated arguments regarding spousal support, alimony, or other children-related issues, most likely, you can get divorced without an attorney.
The main challenge in a DIY divorce is that you will be in charge of arranging the divorce process. Before you go this way, make sure you have:
- A desire to study the subject for understanding your steps
- Ability to negotiate with your spouse to agree on all related issues
- Enough time to deal with the required paperwork
Fortunately, there are many services aimed to help with getting a divorce without legal assistance. Using the below options, you can save much time and money.
Get Divorce Papers Online
Online document preparation has become a common practice in family law and divorce proceedings over the last decade. It is suitable for uncontested divorce cases. The process is pretty straightforward. To file an application for divorce online, choose the company, go to the website, and answer the questionnaire to provide necessary details about your marriage. To ensure court approval, deal only with a company that complies with the specific regulations of your state and county.
The system will complete the standard divorce forms and provide you with a ready-made document package based on the obtained information. Complete divorce online implies giving you permanent access to your printable forms and filing them to the appropriate court. The waiting period is the same as in the traditional process, as the acting law regulates both.
There are potential disadvantages of online divorce that mainly depend on choosing a reliable online platform:
- A court can dismiss the generated paperwork due to invalid content.
- Incomplete compliance with the acting state divorce laws can also cause complications.
- There is a risk that some properties and rights are not addressed in the documentation. It leads to losing some of the desired outcomes.
Typically getting complete divorce papers prepared online takes up to two days. The cost of the service is typically from $100 to $400, depending on the chosen provider. That is way more affordable than hiring a lawyer to do the same job. Regardless of the chosen method used to prepare the divorce papers, the court will still charge filing fees when the documents are submitted.
Divorce Mediation
In cases when you cannot come to an agreement with your spouse but still want to conduct a low-cost divorce, you should consider divorce mediation. It helps spouses find solutions for all issues that arise after deciding to get divorced. Both parties aim to make decisions jointly to reach a settlement agreement that will help end the marriage without a trial. A professional mediator handles the negotiation process to attain results that satisfy both spouses.
In Georgia, private mediation and court-referred mediation are practiced. The first one involves hiring a private mediation to get a settlement agreement before you apply for divorce in court. A judge can assign the second one after the divorce gets filed in court. If you are willing to save time and money, it is highly recommended to reach an agreement before filing the case to court.
Takeaways
As you see, there are effective options to get an inexpensive and quick divorce in Georgia. With today’s accessibility of information online, you can successfully deal with the divorce process on your own. Even if you need professional assistance with paperwork or negotiating with your spouse, there are effective alternatives to hiring an expensive attorney. Decide wisely while choosing your divorce approach to optimize its cost.
