Legal Question in Family Law in Louisiana

You can file your own divorce in any court in the world. You are never required to hire a lawyer, just like you are never requried to see a doctor for medical advice. However, going to court without a lawyer is about the same as attempting surgery on yourself.

It's that "How do you get started" part of your question that is the rub. Even if an attorney would be willing to walk you through the process for free, he or she couldn't take the risk that you would screw something up and then sue their malpractice insurer for the "bad advice". For the attorney, it would be all risk and wasted time and skill with no offsetting benefit.

The divorce and child custody process is very intricate and involved (especially with minor children invovled) and it is literally loaded with procedural pitfalls for the uninitiated or unwary. The process is so byzantine that many lawyers (including myself) won't take on domestic cases. Your odds of navigating that process successfully without a lawyer are probably about the same as successfully removing a tumor out of your abdomen without a doctor.

There are a ton of good lawyers who will handle an uncontested divorce very inexpensively (probably less than $1,000.00). Please, take my advice, prioritize your income and hire one of them.

If you absolutely insist on moving forward yourself, I would suggest that you start at your local law library. There are several books and articles you can find about the divorce process. It will be long and hard hours. Good luck.