Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia
I have been seperated from my husband sine 1995, he is currently incarrcirated doing 10 years. We have two children in common, 19 & 18 years old. May people have siad that I can get a divorce really cheap due to his incarrciration, some have said that I could even file my own papers for dirt cheap. Is this true?
2 Answers from Attorneys
It all depends. If you have joint assets (house, car, retirement) or joint liabilities (mortgage, rent, utilities, credit cards), you shouldn't handle the matter alone. If you're sure you don't have joint assets or joint liabilities, you may be able to handle it alone.
One thing to caution you about is the nonlawyer peanut gallery. People like to play lawyer and throw advice at you. Much of that advice is wrong.
Your children are now adults so they are not at issue. As Attorney McGill noted, it will depend on if you have joint assets with your husband (cars, land, retirement, etc.). If the answer is no, then check with your local county court to see if they have a "pro se" divorce kit. Many counties do. If yours does not, there are kits available for sale.
Divorce, by itself, is not all that expensive and you may be able fo find counsel to do it for a reasonable fee. Some lawyers even do "limited legal services" like letting you fill out the papers and file them for yourself once they look them over.
But divorce may be more affordable than you think. What people fight over are their assets, but since your husband is in jail, I am betting that he is not going to put up much of a fight unless he has an untapped source of income that you do not know about. In which case you do really need a lawyer.
And do not rely on what others tell you. Your situation is not going to be identical to everyone else's.