Law Firm Offers Free Divorce (Not Us)
A Detroit law firm offered a free divorce to potential clients. Clients were expected to write in with their list of reasons for wanting a divorce or from moving away from their current attorney. According to the attorney who offered the free divorce, he was looking for someone who stood out, not the typical cases of folks not being happy with their current divorce attorney. He found his man in 62-year-old Paul Cook.
Cook separated from his wife four years ago but hasn’t been able to afford a full divorce. He proposed to his girlfriend several months earlier, but she was diagnosed with terminal cancer only weeks after. Now, they will get to have their marriage before she dies. Paul has been accompanying his girlfriend to all of her tests and treatments. The story was enough to pull at the heartstrings of the attorney offering the free divorce.
Why Aren’t All Divorces Free?
Divorce can be as cheap as you please, and even free if you and your spouse have the technical know-how to file the right paperwork and come to an agreement on all issues related to the separation of your marriage. But the fact is, that divorce is the legal process of divesting the marital estate of all of its assets, and then distributing those assets to each partner. That’s hard work!
For this to work, your lawyer has to:
- Determine which assets belong to the marital estate and which assets belong to each spouse individually
- Appraise all assets belonging to the marital estate including complex assets that may have been brought into the marriage by one spouse but then accrued significant value during the marriage. The accrued value is considered part of the marital estate while the value at the time of the marriage is considered property of the spouse who originally owned the asset.
- Determine whether infidelity or abuse within the marriage should affect the distribution of assets.
- Ensure that your perspective is heard when it comes to raising the children, custody of the children, and health care decisions for the children.
- Ensure that child support and alimony are in place so that you and your children can maintain your standard of living.
In other words, one divorce may require a whole team of accountants that are expected to appraise the marital estate and all assets of value within the estate. It may also require child psychologists to testify on behalf of you and your children. It will require witnesses to testify on your behalf to discuss the nature of your relationship.
So, divorce attorneys do earn our money.
Talk to a West Palm Beach Divorce Attorney Today
If your marriage has reached its tipping point and you’re now ready to pull the trigger on divorce, call the West Palm Beach divorce attorneys at Bruce S. Rosenwater & Associates to discuss your situation in more detail and learn more about how we can help.
Resource:
fox2detroit.com/news/man-wins-attorneys-free-divorce-contest-so-he-can-marry-girlfriend-with-terminal-cancer
