Divorce Lawyer – Reasons Why You Should Retain a Divorce Lawyer

While not every divorce needs to be handled by an attorney, most people who go through a divorce at least consider hiring a divorce lawyer because they are afraid that they will not get treated right in a court of law without one.

Of course you do have the right to represent yourself in court, but most of us feel that if we do that then our spouse's attorney will have us at a disadvantage given his knowledge of the law and the fact that he is used to standing up in a court and addressing the judge concerning the numerous issues involved in a divorce. Most divorce lawyers do nothing to dispel this image as this is how they make their money and the easier the divorce is the less they have to do to earn their money.

In many cases though, you do not need the services of an attorney, especially if you and your spouse can agree on the terms of the divorce. You should be careful however as it is possible to give up important rights if you and your spouse find areas that you cannot agree on while going through the process.

Before you go to the expense of hiring a divorce lawyer you need to look at your situation and ask yourself some very important questions. First are there children involved in your divorce and if so is their custody in question. English law does not allow for custody so much as it can be used to dictate where they will live primarily. Divorce lawyers can help both parents with making the decision easy for the judge especially if both of you do not argue over the situation.

Of course if your spouse has retained a divorce lawyer, you would be wise to do the same thing. Going into court without an attorney in this situation is like going to a gunfight without a gun and it can be very easy to be outmaneuvered by a good attorney and your spouse will end up with far more than they should.

Even if you are planning an uncontested divorce and your spouse has used a lawyer to draw up the divorce agreement you should still use the services of a lawyer to review the agreement to make sure you are getting fair and reasonable treatment. You cannot use the same lawyer as divorce lawyers are prohibited by law from representing both sides; it is called a conflict of interest.

Protect your Assets

If you have significant assets to protect, you should probably use the services of a lawyer. Although most assets must be split evenly between both parties in a divorce, without a lawyer you could end up losing more than your fair share and having to pay more in support than you should especially if your spouse has more of the assets and less of the bills. The laws regarding retirement funds are very complex, here divorce lawyers can help you to make sure that your accounts are properly divided so that you are still provided for when you retire.

Finally if you are unable to communicate effectively with your spouse for any reason such as a domineering personality you may be much better off using an attorney to handle all communications so that you are not intimidated into making poor choices that will affect your life after the divorce is finalized.