Can I Write My Divorce Settlement Myself?
In many situations, divorcing couples can reach agreements outside of court and resolve their issues without much need for mediation.
You do have the legal ability to write your own divorce settlement, but it is almost never advisable to do so. Many issues related to your divorce require a high level of knowledge about the practice area, which only an experienced family law attorney will have. Even if you do not retain an attorney for the entire divorce process, you should at the very least work with a lawyer to draft your divorce settlement agreement.
The forms you need to fill out
There are many divorce settlement forms you can find online, some of which will be adequate for your case, others of which will not. An attorney will be best positioned to determine which forms you need to fill out and what you need to include in them.
Settlement preparation
Before you begin the process of negotiating a settlement with your spouse, you need to be fully armed with all the pertinent facts surrounding your divorce, including a full list of assets and values, income and debt information and anything else that is financially relevant.
You will be much better prepared for the settlement process if you work with an attorney who has experience in handling divorce negotiations. The attorney will know exactly what information you need to gather, what types of initial offers are reasonable and how much you should be willing to compromise or negotiate from that initial offer. Without the assistance of an attorney, you risk ending up with a bad deal.
Written agreements
Once the time comes to write your settlement agreement, you could end up leaving legal loopholes in the document if you do not have the expertise needed to create a thorough agreement. Attorneys are highly skilled in creating these written agreements that capture all the most important details and do not leave anything up for debate.
To secure the legal advice you need with negotiating a divorce settlement, meet with a skilled Long Island family law attorney at Bryan L. Salamone & Associates.