Any Colorado resident who is considering divorce should know that handling it themselves without a lawyer might not protect their interests in the best possible way. People are sometimes tempted to forgo a lawyer when money is tight. However, a recent article on the subject cited at least five reasons that it is better to hire a lawyer to handle a divorce.
A lawyer can reduce stress by taking care of the legal work, which could minimize disputes and emotional distress. Additionally, state laws often don’t provide for assets to be evenly divided. Instead, the division depends on each spouse’s situation. A lawyer is better able to advocate for someone and handle complicated issues such as child custody and support, obtaining part of the retirement benefits that the other spouse will receive in the future, fairly dividing assets and debts and protecting an inheritance.
Most couples want to have their divorce completed as quickly as possible. A lawyer could handle things in a timely fashion so that a divorce doesn’t drag on. Hiring a lawyer may also help to avoid mistakes that could cause financial harm to an individual, such as over or under-valuing an asset or forgetting to include a debt. A lawyer could draft a clear and binding legal agreements that fully protects their client’s interests on all issues involved. A divorce decree with unclear language or mistakes might make it difficult or impossible to enforce the provisions in the agreement.
A divorce involves complex legal issues. A lawyer could explain the process for the dissolution of a marriage to help an individual make decisions about issues such as child custody, child support, spousal support and marital property division. They could also help formulate agreements on parenting time and visitation plans.
Source: Huffington post, “5 reasons that you need a divorce attorney“, David Centeno, September 17, 2013
