I received a telephone call yesterday from a client whose husband had served her with divorce papers. “What should I do?” she asked. In response, I briefly explained the legal significance of the Divorce Petition (also known as a “Complaint” in many states) and we scheduled a meeting for one day later this week. In our meeting we will review the Divorce Petition, consider each of the requests her husband has made regarding the issues in their case (e.g. division of the assets and debts, child custody and support, etc.) and prepare, file and serve her Response within the time required by law, which in most states, is 30 days from the date of service.
Now for those of you who are not my clients, but were also recently served, run, don’t walk to your lawyers office with the divorce papers in hand. If you don’t have a lawyer, use the tools on our website to find one as soon as possible. If you don’t think you can afford a lawyer, contact all of the no and low cost legal providers and ask if you qualify for free legal help. If you don’t qualify for free legal help, do an online search or go to your local courthouse and ask the court clerk if they have a self-help center. If they do, use it. If they don’t, go to your nearest law library and ask the librarian to direct you to any legal treatise used by new divorce lawyers. For example, in California divorce lawyers (both new and old) regularly refer to Family Law (The Rutter Group California Practice Guide written by Judge William P. Hogoboom (Ret.) and Justice Donald B. King (Ret.) or California Family Law Practice™ (CFLP™), both of which break down and summarize California Family Law Codes and cases and walk you through the divorce process from A to Z. Alternatively, check your local library and book store to determine whether there are any “How to Divorce” books written specifically for your state.
If all of this seems overwhelming, focus on the immediate tasks at hand, which are determining the deadline for your Response, identifying and completing the appropriate legal forms by addressing the substantive legal issues the court should resolve in the divorce (e.g. whether you should receive spousal support, be awarded child custody, etc.), and timely filing and serving your legal papers. If you are eager to get started, print your state’s free online divorce forms and begin reviewing applicable divorce laws now.
Good luck!
This is not legal advice. You should consult an attorney if you have legal questions that relate to your specific divorce. Technorati Tags: divorce papers served petition complaint response self help legal help family law divorced marriage relationship women woman law
I like your blog. Having been thru a nasty 2 year divorce myself, its nice to read about others now that my life is finially calm (knock on wood) To get thru it all and actually know what I was doing w/my Attny, I went back to school and got a paralegal degree. I do not work in that field, but I sure learned a lot ! ! ! and I totally love the Law