This is all too complicated. I can’t do it by myself and I can’t afford an attorney. I tried to do it myself with the self service center paperwork and when I got to court they asked me for a filing fee. I can’t even afford that. What do I do now?

 

At the courthouse (or on the self service center website) you should find forms for a waiver or deferral of filing fees. Although these fees are due at the outset of the case, the courts will often approve a deferral even for people who do not qualify for a full waiver. If you get a deferral instead of a waiver, the filing fee will have to be paid before the final decree is entered, but there’s usually plenty of time in the process to come up with that fee. Don’t delay in filing just because you can’t afford the fees. You probably need your temporary restraining order, your temporary orders, or other important rights involving property and debts in your separation. The deferral paperwork should solve this problem for you fr now and you can worry about payment to finalize the divorce later.

 

Regarding attorney’s fees, in some cases, attorney’s fees can be ordered to be paid by the other party or from the joint property that you own together. A.R.S. 25-324. This can be one of the things you request in an initial temporary orders request and it can also be something you request in the final disposition of property. 

 

To determine if you really can afford attorney’s fees or if you cannot afford not to have an attorney to represent you, count up what you might lose if you do this wrong. Start with the property that you own that you might lose your fair share of, add up the debts that you owe that might all be piled onto you instead of half going over to the other person, and don’t forget the possibility that you might get or might have to pay child support and spousal maintenance for years. Figure out what you have to win or lose, and then decide if the lawyer’s fees are worth it. Family lawyers get a huge part of their income from trying to fix what people have messed up on their own, helping people who realize only after it’s too late that they forgot to get the one thing done that would save $100,000 worth of equity in their house for them, or that not saying the right thing at the right time has cost them $500 a month for life in spousal maintenance payments, that’s $6,000 per month for the rest of their life, and they’re facing hundreds of thousands of alimony (or lost opportunity for alimony) and suddenly they realize that they can’t afford to live like this. And the cost of fixing the mistake is much higher than if they’d just done it right in the first place.

 

Don’t’ find yourself in this position. Think it through. What do you have to lose? You are already losing half of your life, half of your house, your kids, your dreams. Can you afford to lose more than half? Most people think they can not afford to hire an attorney, but in many cases, they can not afford not to. Do not wait until it’s too late. Be proactive and take charge of this process and you’ll have a better chance. Pay for good, professional advice and then take the advice, as if it’s worth what you paid for it.