BACK TO BLOG February 7, 2017

Do I Need To Hire A Lawyer For My Texas Divorce?

Recently I was asked if it was required that somebody hire a lawyer to do a divorce or family law matter. Or if they could handle their child custody issue all by themselves. The answer to that of course is “yeah.” You can do what is called pro so. You can actually handle things on your own. There are actually forms you can get from the State Bar or the Supreme Court’s websites to help you in your Texas family law matter. Usually, it’s for simple divorces and things like that. I would caution you that, you get what you pay for. Last week I was in court and there were two pro se individuals who were trying to get a divorce. And frankly they just didn’t know what they were doing. And the Judge looked at them and said “when you come into my court, I expect you to know the rules, I expect you to know what you’re doing, and I expect you to know how to get what you’re asking for.” And obviously, they did not. Sometimes when you handle your own issues, you cause more problems or create more problems than you want to. It’d be like me if I tried to change my own oil in my car. That’s why you take it in to get it serviced. It costs you money, yeah you’re right. But at the end of the day there is peace of mind knowing that it was done right. And there’s accountability there too. If they do something wrong, they have to be on the hook for it legally. Well if you do something on your own, the buck stops with you. So, yes, you can handle your own divorce, you can handle your own family law matter, but I would encourage people to reach out to a lawyer and consider investing the time and the money to get it done and to get it done right the first time. So, hopefully that was helpful. If you need more information or the forms, go to the Texas Supreme Court’s website. Or if you need to talk to a family lawyer, call obviously The Flowers Law Firm at (903) 965-2000. Thanks have a great day.