What is an Uncontested Divorce in Arkansas Likely to Cost?
When you plan to go through with an uncontested divorce in Arkansas, you mostly need to be prepared for the court fees alone. This article looks at what an uncontested divorce is, what you need to be prepared for, and how hiring a lawyer is still a good idea.
While anyone planning for divorce hopes for a quick, painless, and financially affordable process, divorces are rarely any of these things. Uncontested divorces, however, are the exception. While many conventional divorce proceedings involve months of bitter wrangling, uncontested divorces in Arkansas are typically over with, in a matter of weeks.
What does an uncontested divorce actually mean?
In an uncontested divorce, both spouses agree on all the terms of the dissolution, while coming up with no contentions. Uncontested divorces tend to be resolved much more quickly than conventional divorces for this reason. Since most of the legal expenses involved in disputed divorces arise from the number of hours that lawyers need to devote to the issues at stake, the speed and readiness with which uncontested divorces achieve resolution make them far cheaper. Both parties may still need lawyers to draw up the terms to which they agree when it comes to child custody, child support, visitation, responsibility for debts held together, property division, and alimony; the spouses, however, come to the table in complete agreement on the specifics to do with each one of these points. If they do not agree in any one of these areas, the divorce is no longer considered uncontested.
What are the different items contributing to the cost of an uncontested divorce?
The Constitution guarantees every person the right to represent themselves in court in any matter. Nevertheless, your uncontested divorce can still come with some costs.
Filing fees: Submitting your case in court requires the payment of a set filing fee, usually about $100 in Arkansas.
Drafting costs: Divorces require a great deal of paperwork. You’ll need to prepare filing documents, responses, waivers of service, and discovery documents. Getting these documents prepared correctly may require some help from a qualified divorce attorney.
In general, if your divorce is truly uncontested, if both parties are available at all times to sign the documents necessary, and if no areas of unexpected contention creep up, your costs in Arkansas should be no greater than $200.
Hiring a lawyer is still a good idea
Even when both parties to a divorce do seem to agree on every point involved, it’s important to remember that it can be hard, when you’re inexperienced, to do so with adequate awareness of all the consequences.
What is an Uncontested Divorce in Arkansas Likely to Cost?
For this reason, while it may save you money at the moment to avoid legal representation in your divorce proceedings and go ahead with an uncontested divorce, it could be the smart thing to do, in view of making the best possible choices for the future, to retain an attorney to advise you on issues not immediately obvious to the untrained eye. The idea to take away is that while an uncontested divorce may be the right choice for you, it would still make sense to go in with legal counsel.