Cheap Divorce

Getting a divorce can be financially overwhelming. There are a lot of things to consider, especially if you have children. Here are a few tips that are designed to help you save money while going through a divorce.

Cover some investigations yourself - One of the best ways to save money on your divorce is to do some of the investigation yourself instead of hiring private investigators. Many people hire private investigators to find things out like whether their spouse is hiding money from them. In some cases, the sources of income may be so large and varied that a forensic accountant may be needed. In others, that may not be necessary.

Has your spouse said anything lately to indicate that he/she may have opened an account that you don't know about? Are there some purchases that are unaccounted for? Do you get things in the mail that indicate any excess expenditures your spouse probably couldn't afford with the source of income you know about? Has there been any changes in your spouse's lifestyle recently? Being observant about these things may point you to the right places where you should be looking.

Try DIY Divorce - In many parts of the country, DIY divorces are gaining popularity. You can Learn about DIY divorce and save yourself thousands of dollars in legal fees. Using downloadable divorce kits from the internet may help you cut your legal fees down dramatically. You'll want to talk to the Bar Association in your county to know if they have a pro se division which will help you out with your paperwork. Since a lot of effort will go into DIY divorces, you'll want to make sure that the papers you'll file will be accepted by the divorce court in your county.

Talk to your lawyer's staff instead of the lawyer - Your lawyer's staff will not bill as much as your lawyer (if they bill at all). Like your lawyer's secretary, for example. If you have a simple question that can be answered by your lawyer's secretary, don't take up the time of your lawyer aymore. You'll save a lot of money that way by not racking up time in billable hours.

Do your own legwork - For simple things like making copies of your financial documents, retrieving and filing paperwork, you can do that yourself.

Try an alternative method to resolve disputes - More often than not, using divorce mediation will save you a lot of money by not having the divorce drag out to court for a long time. Aside from saving you a lot of money on legal fees, it would also make your divorce less adversarial. Most of what makes divorce proceedings drag on can be tackled during mediation or, in many cases, even before mediation. Child custody, division of properties

Do your homework before meeting consultants - You may save a lot on billable hours (and in effect, cut the professional fees you need to pay) if you come to consultations prepared. You may have a lot of questions for your divorce lawyer, but if you've already made preliminary research about what you're facing, you'll probably be more able to ask focused questions and therefore save more time. Even simply learning the legal terms that you'll most likely hear during consultations will save you a lot of time.

Go over your bills - During divorce, a lot of people find themselves overspending to compensate for the emotional stress. Going over your bill will make you aware if you have the problem, but it will also make you aware if your soon-to-be ex spouse is racking up debts that you may end up paying or at least cause a lot of hassles when dividing assets and liabilities.

Divorce is a process. Trying to survive the process can be a challenge, but little things that you do along the way can make a big difference.