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Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Law - Legal aid in Louisville offering do-it-yourself divorce packet

Jason Riley reports today in the Louisville Courier Journal:

[E]ase and affordability, along with the goal of reducing crowded dockets, led the Jefferson Circuit Court Clerk's office -- working with Legal Aid, Family Court and the Louisville Bar Association, among others -- to make self-help divorce packets available recently.

For $10, couples without major settlement issues can get a packet and quickly navigate the often treacherous and expensive path to divorce without attorneys or possibly even setting foot in a courtroom.

"The inability to pay should not be a barrier to accessing justice," said Chief Family Court Judge Stephen George, who worked with Legal Aid to create the packets. * * *

In recent years, George said, some people seeking more expedient and less costly divorces in Jefferson County have downloaded self-help divorce packets from the Internet -- sometimes for hundreds of dollars -- only to learn that the documents weren't usable in Kentucky. But the idea resonated with George and his staff.

The trend toward do-it-yourself divorces has grown across the country for a very simple reason, George said: money.

A typical attorney's fee will run $150 to $225 an hour, meaning even an uncomplicated and uncontested divorce will cost $750 to $1,500, he said. Complicated divorces can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

"It's a lot cheaper to get married than it is to get divorced," said Family Court Judge Jerry Bowles. "There's been a large segment in our community that before didn't have the resources" for a divorce.

Bowles said many couples who have been separated for years are coming forward to get divorces they hadn't been able to afford. * * *

Since Legal Aid started offering self-help divorce packets last August -- through what George called a pilot project for the packages now available -- about 600 people have at least started the process.

"The response has been overwhelming," said Nellie McCall , an attorney with Legal Aid who noted that they have been holding packed clinics to teach citizens how to use the packets. "All the judges we've talked to, from throughout the state, want something similar." * * *

Court officials, however, stress that the self-help packets are not for most divorces. If there's any disagreement over assets or custody, lawyers will most likely be necessary.

Divorce lawyers say they are not threatened by the self-help packets because getting a divorce is, in most cases, too complex for couples to do without legal help.

Indiana Courts has sets of forms online for divorce, child support, etc., at its Self-Service Legal Center. Here is an example of the instructions for the "divorce without children and without assets" form set.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 4, 2007 02:09 PM
Posted to General Law Related