Should You Represent Yourself During Your Divorce?

So here you are. You’ve found yourself staring right in the face of divorce. Maybe you’re confused, angry, guilty, or sad. Or heck, maybe you’re relieved to be getting divorced.

Regardless of how you’re feeling right now, you have a major decision that needs to be made fairly quickly, and that is A) whether or not you’re going to hire a lawyer and if so, B) which lawyer you’re going to choose to handle your case.

The first decision revolves around the simple question of should you represent yourself during your Florida divorce?

It’s certainly your right to not hire a lawyer and to instead handle all of the details surrounding your divorce on your own. But the reason most people decide to hire a divorce lawyer is because Florida family law is complicated. The process is confusing, and if you make any mistakes in your divorce, you’re going to have to deal with the consequences of those mistakes for the rest of your life.

Here are just some of the reasons you should really consider hiring a divorce lawyer to handle your Florida divorce.

• Your divorce lawyer can communicate to your spouse for you - There’s a good chance that you and your spouse are having a difficult time communicating with each other right now, and that’s totally understandable. Divorces aren’t fun for either party involved, and there is often a lot of fighting and sadness that comes when spouses try to communicate during a divorce. By hiring a lawyer, you don’t have to worry about that. Your lawyer can handle all communication for you.


• An experienced lawyer can reduce your stress - Do you really want the added stress of managing all of the details that go into a divorce case? It’s like having another full-time job. Getting divorced is already hard enough as it is. By hiring a divorce lawyer, you don’t have to get bogged down by all the petty details that go into a divorce case. And just having someone by your side who knows the process inside and out can go a long way toward reducing your stress.


• Your lawyers can work out an agreement more easily - Divorcing couples often have a hard time working out settlement agreements regarding spousal support, child support, division of property, and other similar matters. Your attorneys can do a much better job of coming to a settlement agreement because they’re professionals and they know what’s fair and what isn’t.


• Your lawyer can make sure your rights are protected - Because you probably aren’t an expert at Florida family law, you might need know how to properly protect yourself during your divorce. A good divorce attorney will fight to make sure your rights are always protected. He or she will truly have your best interests in mind when handling your divorce case.

The list of reasons to hire a divorce lawyer rather than going it alone could go on and on. Suffice it to say, it’s likely in your best interest to turn your case over to the experts.