A Word of Caution
There are thousands of websites and ads offering to prepare your divorce forms. Please be aware that these ‘Online Divorce Websites’ and ‘Divorce Form Preparers’ may not be legal or legitimate and are very often more expensive. Especially in the long run.
Under North Carolina Law, only yourself or a licensed North Carolina Attorney may prepared or assist you in preparing the divorce forms for use in North Carolina Courts (N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 84-4 and 84-5).
Before using any service to prepare your divorce forms make sure of the following:
1) Do they have an attorney licensed in North Carolina to at least oversee the preparation of your forms? If not, that service may not be legal in North Carolina and while it is highly unlikely you would ever be prosecuted, it is possible you could be committing the crime of aiding and abetting if you use such a service.
2) Are their fees reasonable? Our fee is $395 for everything needed for a standard Uncontested Divorce. If a service charges you more than say, $50 for the forms only – this may not be a good deal if you consider the following: You will have to figure out the paperwork and the process. Court Clerks and Judges are not allowed to advise you. Unless you are indigent and eligible to have Court cost waived, you will still have to pay Court Cost of $225 or $235 and may have Motion Fees and Miscellaneous Expenses involving such things as service of process that can vary substantially. Also, you will need to make multiple trips (at least 3 separate trips are needed) to the Court to perform various filings and to attend your court date. All assuming that you properly figure out what to do, how to do it and when. Even minor errors or omissions can cause delay or even dismissal of your divorce. When you take into account the factors listed above, often people will end up spending more attempting to ‘do it yourself’.
Why take a chance? Our firm is licensed and has the lowest attorney fee guarantee. However, if you do find a legitimate and legal website, divorce form preparer or attorney / law firm whose fees are lower than ours, just let us know - we will always match or beat their fee!