Yes! These are complex documents that will affect your rights to your children and your property. A divorce decree with children is usually about 42 pages long single space. Before you “fill in the blank” on an online form, you better be very, very careful.

The Judges are so tired of so many people going downtown and “messing” it all up. The judges are getting so impatient. They get so tired of that person who thinks they know everything. Judges: “Look, you didn’t do this right. I can’t tell you what you did wrong. The form is not right. You need to go get yourself a lawyer.”

You have property, you have kids and your spouse is not agreeing to what you want? Consider this:

• Prose Husband to save some money did up a form and ORDERED himself to pay lifetime alimony to wife.
• Parent signed off on decree that allowed the other parent to move across the county – no geographic restriction – with the children.
• Father signs off on decree that makes both parents joint managing conservators but Mother has exclusive rights on all the rights and duties – basically making her a sole managing conservator.
• Husband signed off on decree that allowed Wife to unilaterally sell his ’67 Chevelle without any involvement from Husband. Sold all of his tools (he had cool stuff), Then wife wrote him a check for what she thought was half of the value.
• Father signed off on decree that basically waived off all of his Holiday possession.
• Father signed off on decree for visitation as “arranged and agreed.” Problem. Completely unenforcible and there is never an agreed visitation.
• Father signed off on “child support through college.” This is not the law.
• Parent signed off on decree with injunction in place that prevents step-parent from being alone with child.
• Parent signed off on decree that required the other parent to provide 72 hours notice before he could exercise his holiday possession.

The above true to life scenarios that this firm has seen and has had to “fix’ through a modification action. Yes, a guy trying to save money used a fill in the blank online form which ordered him to pay lifetime alimony. We fixed it. It wasn’t cheap.

Yes, a father signed off on decree that ORDERED him to pay 100% of all uninsured medical expenses – in this case, this included the $5,000 braces for the child.

Divorce decrees and Orders in Suit Affecting the Parent Child Relationship are complex documents full of traps for the unwary.

The Judge says to the pro-se litigant, “YOU GO OVER THERE AND WATCH HOW THESE OTHER PEOPLE DO IT, MAYBE YOU WILL LEARN SOMETHING.”

Trying to save money on the upfront end usually cost a bunch of money on the backend. Call us, we can help.