When you’re going through a divorce, the last thing you want to spend money on is another fee. Luckily, when it comes to sorting out your paperwork, LegalNature is one of the key leaders in all the best legal forms and documents.
It is one of those law firms that promises you only the best from your divorce, but as with the issue, it should be re-evaluated.
Before actually filing for divorce, some crucial questions about the legal giant’s protection and its cost need to be comprehended. In the following, you’ll learn all the neat hidden tips and tricks to get only the most out of your settlement and say goodbye in style.
Attorney vs. No Attorney Procedures: An Overview
Attorneys can be extremely helpful if you’re going through a divorce. They may not be required but their presence can help. Most usually, couples that go through divorce have a third-party mediator who gives a statement of the marriage and its condition.
If two spouses contest on either the house or the kids, usually a divorce attorney is hired.
A divorce attorney is necessary if both parents encounter a standstill over:
- Child support,
- Custody
- Financial support
- Alimony
- Division of owning
If the spouses are amicable enough to settle on their own agreement, then a divorce attorney may not be needed. Hiring a divorce attorney is advisable if you want to save yourself the trouble of paying expensive legal fees. You can create the deal yourself and then you can let your own attorney review it before he drafts it himself.

Grounds for Divorce
There’s a renovation in divorce handling in all 50 states. If both parties settle on divorce as their final solution, then the court can grant the divorce based on no-fault grounds.
A no-fault divorce is granted if both partners agree to divorce, so mutual spousal consent is needed.
Couples usually decide to separate under the claim that their divorce is due to irreconcilable differences, and this is one option most couples who don’t want to tear each other down opt to. Some of the states have completely removed the fault-based divorce rule and allow couples to end their marriages the easy way.
Some of the recent states that abide by this rule include:
- California
- Hawaii
- Florida
- Colorado
- Arizona
- Kentucky
- Michigan
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Washington
If you live in any of these states you can automatically settle on a no-fault divorce with both parties agreeing to separate.
If you come from some of the states that are not mentioned above, then you may have the option of deciding whether you want to file for divorce on no fault or fault grounds.
In case you and your partner still think that you can reach an agreement in settling things between you two, then you should go for the no-fault ground.
It’s the easier step to get out of the situation, plus you won’t have to go out of your way to prove your spouse’s fault. This means no dragged-on court appointments and legal battles.
But, no divorce comes easy, and if you think that your divorce could be fault-based that the outcome might be more beneficial to you.
Courts usually take into consideration both of the spouse’s behaviors, especially when there’s a battle for:
- Physical custody over minors
- Legal custody over offspring
- Alimony settlements
- Marital assets division
Fault-based divorces can get tricky, especially if the party who’s at fault does not admit guilt. This means that they do not consent to the grounds of divorce which could drag out the process. On-fault grounds include reasons like adultery, abuse, abandonment, neglect, cruelty, inhumanity, misogyny, substance abuse, or felony convictions.
What are Residency Requirements?
US legal systems are different in that they require spouses to have resided in a state for a while before they are allowed to file for a divorce in that state. So, couples who live in Michigan can file for divorce but only in Michigan. The residency requirements vary between six months and a year, depending on the state.
What about Court Information?
At the end of your divorce filing, you’ll be asked to provide court information.
This includes all information connected to the case. You need to contact a Clerk of Court before you file just so you can get a clearer perspective on all court details.
This clerk should be able to let you in on all the procedures for filing a petition for divorce. Then, he should narrow down the details concerning the court address, courtroom, and division.

Basic Steps for Filing Your Divorce
Before you rush to your attorney, there are a few necessary steps you need to take to get the best out of a bad situation.
Here’s what you should do first:
- Start a petition for divorce. The petition is a key step to get the business over with as fast as possible. You file a petition for divorce or dissolution of marriage on your state’s family law website or by calling a clerk. Revise everything with your court clerk and check if any financial additives are necessary for your petition.
- Present your petition to your spouse and with that, you’ll need to provide a summon. This is also known as a service of process, where you let your spouse know about the divorce proceedings. Your clerk or the official state law should let you know how to correctly serve your spouse. Some states allow notices in forms on e-mails, private service companies like Legal Nature, law officers, or a neutral third party.
- Afterward, you’ll need to wait for your spouse’s response. They can either react by accepting the proposal or rejecting the statements you provided in the divorce petition. In this situation, the court should schedule a hearing.
- The waiting period could be used wisely and you can finalize the terms of the infamous divorce settlement agreement. This is where you provide demands and make sure that terms are agreeable. The divorce settlement is then sent to a judge to revise before the actual hearing.
- Bring copies of court orders connected to your marriage or information on child support.
What Happens during a Divorce Settlement Hearing?
During a divorce hearing, the judge will decide whether your divorce settlement agreement is agreeable on both sides and they will grant the divorce. If one of the two parties is dissatisfied and protests the outcome, the judge will usually declare the divorce settlement as unfair. The process will be, therefore, prolonged with later scheduled court hearings.
When it comes to divorce, it’s always advisable to contact and trust only professionals. Reaching out to a divorce court administrator, like a clerk, will get you the specified info you need for the easiest divorce procedure.
How to Create a Divorce Settlement Agreement
If you and your spouse have reached a previously agreed upon divorce settlement, all you have left is the divorce settlement agreement. This agreement can be created by the spouses themselves and can be used only in situations like:
- Knowing where each spouse is located
- Both parties are contactable
- Both spouses have agreed on divisions of assets
- If the parties are in negotiation
- if you plan on meeting with a specified lawyer to divide the assets
To conclude, LegalNature comes with charging fees, but only minor ones. Customers may be required to pay a fee to download LegalNature’s legal form, and it costs under $40/.