Many ills in this world can be blamed on lawyers. High insurance premiums and OJ Simpson's being set free after killing two innocent people are probably among them. However, the high costs of uncontested divorces in New York State are not the fault of lawyers. A bit of background: an uncontested divorce is a divorce where both parties not only agree that they will be divorced, but it is a divorce where all the issues have been resolved. When it comes to the high cost of uncontested divorces, the New York State legislature is to blame. I was drafting uncontested divorce papers last week and I counted the number of documents which were necessary to get the judge to sign the divorce. Keep in mind that this was a very simple divorce with no children and where the parties decided not to divide any assets. The number of documents was 13. The vast majority of the documents the law requires a person to submit to be divorced are unnecessary. For example, to get divorced a person is required to fill out a form called an application for an index number. The State makes people fill out this form and pay $210.00 to get something called an index number. Basically, the State makes people pay $210.00 and fill out a form to get assigned a number. This number doesn't give people any benefit whatsoever. The number doesn't even make someone entitled to a judge. If a person wants a judge on their case (this is required to accomplish just about anything), the State charges an additional $95.00 and makes that person fill out yet another form. A divorce really boils down to a piece of paper signed by a judge that terminates a marriage. There is nothing more. There is no reason, let alone a good one, why a dozen forms are necessary. Shame on you New York State Legislature. What will an uncontested divorce cost? Between legal fees and the filing fees an uncontested divorce will cost somewhere between $1,000.00 and $3,500.00 depending on what lawyer you use. If you have children, it may cost you a little more. I will handle your uncontested divorce for a flat fee of $1,200.00. There are lawyers who advertise that they will do uncontested divorces for $500.00 for maybe even less. Be skeptical of these advertisements. These amounts generally do not include the cost of things like the Court fees (approximately $400), process server fees and postage, which can add up quickly. When it comes to uncontested divorces, be sure to ask what the total cost will be including all fees. Links: Albany Divorce Lawyers Albany Criminal Lawyers Like this: Be the first to like this post.
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