Prepaid Legal Services: Dangerous for an Uncontested Divorce

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in DuPage County divorce lawyer

Prepaid legal services are becoming more popular as benefits offered to employees.  More than 70 million Americans have these prepaid legal services. In these packages, a small amount is paid each month in return for some future assistance on a legal issue. While most of the legal help available is minimal through these programs, some people are still attempting to use them for an uncontested divorce. In these situations, you are likely better off with an attorney.

Many prepaid plans cover basic services and won’t get involved in more complex legal issues, like criminal defense.

If you and your spouse don’t have much to argue over, you might consider using these services for an uncontested divorce. The way the prepaid services work is that as you make payments into the plan, supposedly the amount of “work” you’re eligible to receive from an attorney grows. Once you “max out” these plans, however, you could find that you have to pay for representation anyways.

If your uncontested divorce takes longer than you imagined, or the attorney has to spend a lot of time reviewing facts and materials, you’re going to lose out in the long run by having to hire more of that attorney’s time- at whatever rate he or she wants to charge. You end up trapped if this individual has already completed some work on your case, because you may then feel obligated to pay them to finish it.

If you and your spouse are on speaking terms, you may also consider forms of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation or collaborative law. These methods allow you more control over the outcome of your divorce, tend to be less expensive and require less litigation. Your divorce lawyer can help you determine whether this is a good option for your family.

If you are planning for an uncontested divorce, it’s better to work with an attorney who has an upfront fee. This way you know exactly what you’re getting and there are no surprises down the road. You hire the attorney to do the work and the attorney has to take you to the finish line. If you want a worry-free uncontested divorce case, contact an Aurora divorce attorney today.