Legal Question in Family Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Marital Seperation

You asked about using online forms to obtain a separation.

Attorneys at first were bothered by the proliferation of online legal assistance and forms. We saw it as an encroachment on our territory and our livelihoods. We also saw that it often did not serve the parties well and often proved damaging.

We still are quite concerned that most parties are not served well by uninformed legal assistance. But we aren't concerned that online legal assistance harms us.

When parties use do-it-yourself forms or other short-cuts for legal services they actually short-change themselves. Lawyers consistently find that parties end up paying significantly more to correct the problems created by inferior legal solutions than if the parties had engaged lawyers in the beginning. There is no question that intelligent, cautious, and methodical persons can employ sufficient dispassionate reason to handle their own matters. But there aren't many people who fit the bill.

To do any legal action properly a party must be able to learn the legal aspects, the formal requirements, and the bureaucratic aspects but also must be able to look at the matter from a dispassionate stance. Very rarely can parties do this. Each has their own agenda of what is important to them at that moment and often fail to consider their needs later on.

The short answer to your specific question is yes. But you need to ask yourself if you should use documents obtained online.

Regards,

Roger