Deciding Between DivorceWriter and Free Forms
Ten to fifteen years ago, finding and completing your own legal forms were some of the harder aspects of representing yourself in divorce court without an attorney. Today, however, there are no shortage of options for preparing your own divorce forms, and the bigger challenge seems to be choosing the option that works best for you.
Common Issues with Free Forms
Options are Too Limited
Free or pay-for-print only form offerings often fall short for the following reasons:
- No option for division of property and/or debt division.
- Won't work if responding spouse is in the military.
- No option to include matters related to minor children like child support and custody/visitation.
- No option to include spousal support (alimony).
Documents are Blank
Many free form offerings are a series of boilerplate blank forms. Some aren't even state-specific. Filling these out can be painstaking and mistake prone.
Missing Forms
Often, free form options claim to offer complete form packages, but actually only offer forms to begin the divorce. This leaves pro se filers scrambling to locate and complete final documents at the last minute. It may also mean having to hire an attorney to represent you at the end of the divorce process.
Incomplete Instructions
Representing yourself without an attorney can be intimidating, especially when you don't know what documents to file or when to file them. Free instructions tend to be too general and fail to provide the level of detail needed for you to feel confident in your ability to handle representing yourself.
How DivorceWriter is Different
Access to Full Options
Unlike with free or pay-for-print only options, with DivorceWriter, your options aren't limited. If you have jointly held property and/or debts, they need to be included in the divorce. If one spouse is in need of spousal support (alimony) failing to including it in the divorce will usually result in it being waived permanently.
While not every divorce will include all or even some of these options, failing to include an option that applies in your case could have disastrous consequences down the road. With DivorceWriter, we let the customer decide whether to include any of these issues in the divorce.
Receive a Start-to-Finish Divorce Package
Free and pay-to-print forms often don't include a Settlement Agreements, Parenting Plans, and Child Support Worksheets, and sometimes even lack the Decree/Judgment forms to finalize a divorce. With DivorceWriter you get everything you need to get divorced in your state.
Get Completed, Professional-Looking Documents, Not Blank Forms
With DivorceWriter, you complete our online interview. Then, your information is transferred to forms by our automated system to generate complete, professional looking divorce documents that are ready to sign and file.
Receive Step-by-Step Instructions
While it's extremely important to have complete forms that will work for your state, it's also vital that you understand the process that lay ahead of you. In particular, knowing when to sign and file documents and what deadlines apply in your state are essential. Instructions on how to obtain a court date, guidance on what testimony to provide at the divorce hearing, and whether or not a witness is required at your hearing are included for every state. If your county has specific requirements, we include those, too. DivorceWriter provides step-by-step, easy-to-follow instructions that are clear and help give you the confidence to successfully represent yourself in your divorce case.
The Benefits of Years of Feedback from Customers and Courts
DivorceWriter receives regular feedback from our customers, and in any given year, we're in contact with hundreds Court Clerk's offices across the county. This gives us unique opportunities to constantly fine-tune and refine our product--from our online interview to forms to instructions to our DivorceWriter Help Center. We are able to keep our forms current and up-to-date. More than a decade of offering self-help divorce products has provided us with invaluable experience, which we continue to use to make DivorceWriter the best value for your money.
Free Unlimited Revisions for Two Years
There are a number of reasons why you may need to make changes to documents either before or after filing for divorce. If you make an error or omission in the online interview that you don't discover until you have an opportunity to review your completed document, fixing it is easy. Simply log in to your account and make the desired changes.
Money-Back Guarantee
If your documents are not accepted by the Court, DivorceWriter offers a money-back guarantee.
