Do I need a lawyer for a divorce?
You don’t necessarily have to hire an attorney to represent you from start to finish. We’re able to represent clients now on an a la carte basis. We call it unbundling. We are able to consult and draft documents and that kind of thing. I would always recommend that anybody who’s contemplating any kind of litigation — and divorce especially; you only get to do it once if you’re lucky — should definitely talk with an attorney and be educated about the process and your rights under our laws here in Maine to make sure that whatever your settlement is or however you proceed, you’re proceeding in your own best interests. I also would discourage anyone from having final documents signed by a judge, which become permanent court orders, without first having an attorney review them to make sure the documents say what you think they say and cover all the bases. There is an awful lot of post-divorce litigation matters that are racking up fees and angst for people just because they didn’t take the time to make sure the documents were drafted correctly the first time.
