Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia

The bottom line is that you decided to use a kit, so you should not expect a lawyer to tell you whether or not it is valid and enforceable (especially without evening seeing it). If it is important to do it correctly (and it certainly should be), you can have a lawyer do a basic agreement based on your agreement.

Given what is at stake, it is extremely dangerous and foolish to use a kit. The provisions of Georgia law as to cases with children are so complex, that it is almost impossible to get many judges to approve a divorce that is not perfect. If you bought the kit in a store, return it, as the kits at many local office supply stores are frankly garbage, omit needed forms, and don't come close to acceptable language.

If you are using the kits some local courts provide, note that, without added language, they will not generally be adequate. In fact every court website warns you against using the kits without a lawyer.

Note that you need far more than an agreement. Do you have a consent to try, verification, acknowledment, parenting plan, divorce petition, child support addendum order, final decree, child support spreadsheet/worksheet, and financial affidavits? Have you properly addressed the tax anbd property issues? Do you also have the local forms that some counties add? If yours is a county with hearings, do you know how to present your case in court?

In most of metro Atlanta, our legal fees run between $699 and $799 if your case is simple and there is an agreement. It is really foolish to try to save that small an amount given the costs of trying to fix a screw-up later.

Ditch the kit and do it right. If after all the warnings you want to use a kit, pay a lawyer a couple hundred dollars before you file to see if you even did the kit correctly.