Anyone have any experience? Wife and I are going to file ourselves. Actually I will be doing the work. I am looking for tips and advice. I probably ought to get on a Divorce Forum but thought that I would start here. I know that reaching an agreement with my wife will be no problem but I am worried about the judge. I wonder if he is going to make me show him all kinds of financial records and such. There will be reasons for the way that we split assets & liabilities that he does not need to be involved in. I know that I will have to show a pay stub for the child support calculation and that is fine.

Get your self a lawyer. They know what to do and what not to do. Cheaper in the long run especially with kids involved

sorry to hear that ya'll are splitting.

there are several attorny's that specialize in amicable splits, they basically take care of the legal paper work and thats it.


I would contact one of them

I thought about it. We have legal assitance through work for free simple wills and discounts on other services. I do not really have the time to deal with the lawyer right now though. A lawyer means day time appointments and scheduling time off work. She filed several years ago and we had all the details worked out but just did not finalize it so I have some experience. Kid is not aproblem at all because she is already living with her mom and she is almost 17. Child support would be for about 14 months. Of course I am already paying right now just do not have it formalized.

Something always goes wrong. Go ahead and get a divorce attorney now before it's too late. I am a lawyer but I don't do family law.

As all said above get an attorny. But its not like your making it sound. You can get one that does colaborate law and is basically a mediator. She will just draw up what you both already have worked out. The one I used is Susan Wright, and she's in Rockwall which is where it says your from. Also I know for a fact she will work around your schedule and meet at night/evenings. I'm self employed and she delt with all that. I didn't have to produce any kinds of financial records for judge or anybody. Shes on 603 North Goliad Street if your interested. Her number is 972-772-0285 Def the best way to go by far.

I know of Susan. I know a very good family law lawyer who lives in Colleyville. She recommended Susan last time around. Since I just need someone to file the stuff I will probably go as low cost as possible. That will mean using a resource I have at work. Last time they referred me to some dude in Royse City. The others they had were in Dallas. It might be a little more inconvenient but the price will be right. I am in no hurry. The wife sort of is becuase she wants to file for all of the gov't aid and freebies which she will get without my income holding her back.

Same as what others said- get a lawyer. The benefits far-outweigh the costs. As agreeable as you two may think you are, it can change in a heartbeat. All she has to do talk to her network and the advice will start pouring in (and that ain't good for you).

Also, doing research on the Internet will yield very little toward your case. Every divorce has some tweak of a difference in the factors. You can't necessarily apply the Internet scenarios to your's. State, county, and judge can also make a difference in a case.

Lawyer up. Good luck to you.

As long as you two agree on everything, I wouldn't waste money or time on a lawyer.

I tried 3 times alone. Pay an attorney to just walk it through!

I did it myself but there were no kids involved, very easy and cheap. I also know a lady that did it herself with a child involved. The judge granted it but he scolded her for doing it herself with a minor child.

It probably won't hurt to hire a attorney, women get evil when it comes time to divide things! Trust me!

I understand that but everything is pretty much divided now. I will buy her out of the house and make a 401k distribution to her and that is about it. I do have some common credit cards to clean up but I will take care of those prior to filing and anything she has charged will come out of her settlement. I have set up an online account and started to fill out the forms. Minor child is almost 17 and there is no custody issues. Judges like to scold you for getting divorced period with a child.

I called the county clerk just to see if they had a preference as to who I used. What a B. When I asked her she started barking at me. I had to ask her a second time to clarify. Answer was they do not care.

I am sure that with the economy the self filings are way up.

this is correct

Your situation might be different than mine, but I have a hard time trusting a woman fixing to loose things or money!

I am a recovering attorney.

Given that you have kids....GET AN ATTORNEY NOW. Please.

Why? She forked over $5K+ a few years back and there is nothing that is a point of contention. She will have custody and I will get whatever visitation rights she wants me to have. The kid is a year away from being 18 and it is kid not kids. When my wife hired the attorney we got almost to the end and she withdrew it. Should have gone through with it but figured we would give it another go.

I used Jack K Robinson there in Rockwall and he let me know do all the leg work and used our previously agreed upon terms. He basically was there to "have my back" and do the legal filing, etc. He charged me $1500 for the entire process (2 small kids involved, but no fight at all from either party).


Oh, and he even let me arrange "after-hour" and weekend meetings for the times where I could not get away during the day.

I appreciate all the advice. Divorce lawyers can be the scum of the scum. They take advantage of people when they are down and suck all of their money out of their wallets. It is no wonder that divorce is the number reason 1 for bankruptcy filings.

Did mine myself, cost 256.00 total. If you agree on everything and are on good terms this is the way to go. Lawyers can make things worse sometimes. Go to courthouse and ask for the do it yourself divorce kit. Copy it fill it out and pay filing fee. Wait 60 days have judge sign and your done.

I have to agree. They just out to make money. Why pay an attorney for something you can handle. When do your daughter turn 18? If you can wait until she turn 18, then you can take the child issue out of the equation. It seems like some people hire an attorney for everything i.e. traffic tickets, accidents, bankruptcy, social security, etc.

barndoor

I did it myself. Cost about 157 dollars I believe. Easy, just buy one of those kits and do as they say.

I did it myself, we did get a lawyer but used the same lawyer and just visited him once. I would suggest getting it all in writing. We agreed to split some bills, then 2 weeks later she went bankrupt and i got the bills anyway.

The bills that she will be keeping are all in her name. I had no knowledge of them at all. I am more worried about them now than I will be afterwards. I wish it was as easy as someone said about just going and getting the forms at the courthouse. I called Rockwall county and the snooty clerk acted like she did not even want to talk about it. I know the one judge in Rockwall lectures people. I talked to the bailiff one day while on jury duty and he was telling me stories.

I used a book called "How To Get Divorced in Texas for Under $40".

Probably costs a little more now.

This is good advice. Get an attorney and don't look back!

me and my ex went to the court house filled out the paperwork cost 197 buks have shared custody although i pay her 200 "child support" a month witch is just half of daycare. way cheaper and less of a hassle of a lawyer. good luck and im sorry to hear it cant be worked out. if i could take it back i know i would.

Check your county website. I know the Denton County website has the forms you can download. Part of the packet includes detailed instructions.

Get you a lawyer ,she my slip one in on you.
Trust her like you would a rattle snake.
This may be the redneck way ,but you have to look out for no#1.

Thanks, I will do that. I called the county clerk and she did not mention it. I cannot do anything until my broken ankle heals anyway. As far as Freeman's comment. The whole idea here is this is a settlement between me and the wife. It is going to be uncontested. She knows she cannot afford or take care of the house so it is not an issue. The furnishings have already been divided along with the other big stuff.

How does that saying go, a person who represents themselves has a fool for an attorney? An uncontested divorce will cost you about a grand.

A judge is not going to want to dig into a couples finances, records, etc if the couple comes to the court with a mutual agreement.

An attorney is usually a necessary evil, but if you both are parting agreeably, then you may simply wish to hire a professional mediator who can help ensure that your agreements are all completely written out. You & the future-ex may agree verbally now that she only expects 'X' amount of money. But, she could change her mind later on & if you don't have an iron-clad written agreement now, she could take you to the cleaners later.

A divorce attorneys office often has mediators available at reasonable cost.

It sounds like you made your mind up already so I feel like I'm wasting my typing but here goes anyway. Get a lawyer. You mentioned a woman attorney that didn't sound expensive or contentious. That's what your looking for.

Situation # 1; Who's insurance will the child be going on to. She's entitled by law until she's 26 years old.

Situation # 2; Who pays when daughter decides to go to college. Ex wife could go back and refile for child support, which means you pay it all, including retroactive to child's 18th birthday. Even if the daughter is not living at either household. I have seen it done. Unbelievable but true.

Most lawyers have seen many things that there is no way you could anticipate. Your call obviously... What do you do for a living; do you buy the cheapest tools for that. Why not?

Child will be on my insurance. If she goes to college I will be paying because the wife does not make enough money. I know these 2 already. I am thinking about joint custody.

Just wondering how it worked out?

First I was waiting for my wife's response on custody then I broke my heel so nothing has happened yet. I am a little concerned about self filing after reading the article in the paper about it. The article said that Texas is one of 13 states where the judge can deny it and they do. I know from talking to a jury baliff in Rockwall county that one of the judges there can be tough on people getting divorced. I need to get going on it again.

I have checked the Denton county website and could not find the forms.

PM me if you decide you want to visit with an attorney. I can have one of ours get in touch with you.

Like I said before I get discounted legal service at work. I finally found some stuff on the Denton county website but they do not provide forms. All they provide are some per se guidelines and the code of conduct during the cooling off period.

Hope it turns out well for you.

Well I had a little complicating factor added to the mix. So I am going to talk to an attorney. Our assistance program assigned me to a guy named Keith Wheeler in Rockwall. The complication was an inheritance. Not that she is after any of it. She knows that inheritances are not community property. We have been down that road previously. All should go well now.

Best of luck with it!

Looks like I will need luck. The Kids First courses we took are only good for 2 years and ours have expired. Looks like have to put up with her carp for another year since she is working too much to take the class again. I do not like the idea either. It was a big waste of my time. I am going to talk to my lawyer on Thurs. and see if judges ever make an exception. Our daughter will be 18 next March and have both taken the class. I am thinking because it is state law there is no work around.