DIY Divorce

norabattie

A friend of mine rang the other day. She's separated with 10 years and living with her new partner. She has 3 children. The issue is that Social Welfare is hounding her to get a divorce for some reason. They keep asking the same question when she's being reviewed. She seems to think she can get a DIY divorce and as she's not very internet savvy I said I'd look into it. It seems rather complicated from what I can see. Has anybody ever done this and help me point her in the right direction?

XsApollo

If her and her ex husband are all amicable and can agree everything and the divorce is consented by both parties then yes it is fairly simple if someone is doing the paperwork.

not so simple if she think she can do it all herself , as in there are a lot of procedures to follow and wording of documents in relation to children, properties and pensions is important.

paying someone to do the paperwork side is well worth it.

It will cost around 600 euro for one of the DIY divorce crowds, they do all the paperwork and give instructions basically.

I did it myself and although I won’t recommend the crowd I used , ( had an issue on my side that I think was above their skill set so had to get a solicitor to sort it.) it’s pretty straight forward.

if I was doing it again, I would of used a solictor to do the paperwork for us, I think they would of done a consent divorce for around 1500euro. Which as in my case if you ran into any issues with orders or wording on documents then you would need one.

norabattie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121142536#Comment_121142536

See when I was onto her the other night I was googling and i saw those websites for 650 . I got the impression that was the only way to it too, but she was convinced that you could do it yourself for around 200. Obviously money is tight for her and her new partner is very sick at the moment so I told her I'd help as much as I could. Looks like she's gonna have to go down that route. Thanks for the info. appreciate it!

dubal

I used a service, cost 700 I think plus 150 per pension. Worth every cent.

The pensions bit were surprisingly the messiest

XsApollo

You can do it yourself at no cost, it doesn’t cost anything, well except getting documents witnessed by a solicitor ( 10euro) or commissioner for oaths which is free

She would need to read up on it in , if she is going to do it herself, especially if the kids are under 18. The judge scolded me on one occasion for wording in regards to the kids welfare, he said whoever wrote that I should go back and get my money off them,

also another time sent us away again in regards to affidavit of means,

and also at the end he had to go outside of the terms of consent in regards to the properties, he did us a favour there because he could sent us away again to get the wording right.

Wording is the hardest part and to be honest the language is not easy.

You can’t just rock up at court and get a divorce. You need to motion the court to get a hearing, you need civil bill, affidavit of means ( especially when kids are under age) affidavits of welfare for them also, property adjustment orders, pensions adjustment orders. And stuff needs to be witnessed and signed and served on the other party by whoever is the applicant.

But it can be done, I wouldn’t attempt it on my own , even after doing it already.

TheOriginalMattman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058314918/diy-divorce

My own divorce was granted yesterday, and in under a minute of being called into hear our case.

We had no assets, property, children etc - it was "just" a break up, but legal.

I went through legal aid (as I couldn't afford private and wouldn't understand the process or lingo) and she was unrepresented. Citizens Information can give a list of all the paperwork to be filed etc, and can take some time but it's relatively simple and then it's just a matter of waiting for the process to get around to your case number.

Can definitely be done DIY - just takes a bit of homework but Citizens Information are brilliant.

It wasnt me123

My husband and I are doing a DIY divorce, no property, no minors etc.

We got the documents from the local Courthouse for completion but on the final day, we didn't have a document the court has to sign off on. Someing like a Terms of Settlement, Terms of Agreement, Terms of Consent - it just says we won't go back to look for more money/stuff - there isn't any, neither of us have property or a pension. Any ideas where I can get this form. we are back in court in January. thx