What if I am the stay-at-home spouse/parent and don’t earn the income or control the funds?

There are many myths surrounding stay-at-home moms and dads, including the one that they sit around all day eating bon-bons. Just like the idea of the candy-eating spouse, the concept that anyone is prevented from filing for divorce because they don’t earn an income is ridiculous. The bare minimum cost of any divorce are the filing fees and in many jurisdictions, fees can waived based on financial need. Check your local court website and search online for pro bono divorce services.

What if my spouse has totally depleted our bank accounts and left me with zero or limited cash?

There is a silver lining in a situation like this, and that is that you have a paper trail of the financial activity. Your bank statements may become relevant in your request for spousal support (alimony). Divorce is not something to be entered into without planning. If you are in a situation that is unsafe or may become unsafe, you will need some type of emergency plan that may require some amount of money. As you create your plan, you may also consider enlisting the help of a friend or family member whom you can stay with for a short period of time if it is no longer safe for you to remain at home. We also recommend that you reach out to the national domestic violence hotline to find some local support.

What if we can’t afford a divorce lawyer and we don’t qualify for any of the legal aid programs we have researched?

You can use the online divorce service It’s Over Easy. The cost for a divorce on It’s Over Easy is between $750 and $1500, depending on where you live. Alternatively, you can try filing on your own at your local courthouse. The drawback is that you would be responsible for completing your forms accurately on your own and they are notoriously difficult. It’s Over Easy fills the forms out for you and files them with the court on your behalf.

Our money is in a joint account. May I use those funds?

A joint account is used by most households to maintain the community based on mutual agreements of that community. With that said, parties may agree to use the money from a joint account for divorce (dissolution of marriage).

My spouse is dragging out the divorce and says we will go bankrupt before it’s over, what do I do?

The simplest solution (and the least expensive) is to come to an agreement by yourselves. Hiring separate attorneys to represent each of you adds significant cost to your divorce, as does hiring mediators. We encourage families to look at divorce as a business decision. It is fiscally irresponsible to waste; money in a business. We feel the same way about lawyer fees, when they’re not necessary. The more parties argue, the more money the divorce attorneys make, and the less you have for your children and for your next chapters.

Divorce Blog & Insights from Divorce Platform It's Over Easy

Recent Posts by Laura Wasser

Attorney Laura Allison Wasser is an author, entrepreneur, and Family Law expert with over 20 years of experience. Having handled a number of high-profile, high-net-worth divorce cases, Laura Wasser and her team have developed an intuitive and simple process for uncontested divorces available to everyone. Laura has represented celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Jimmy Iovine, Maria Shriver, and Stevie Wonder, but she maintains that divorce is the great equalizer — it terrifies everyone. She has made it her mission to change this by creating It’s Over Easy, which gives divorcing couples an accessible and affordable resource to dissolve their marriage in all 50 states. She is changing the face of divorce by providing education, tools and support for families going through the process and making them available to everyone.

I Need a Divorce, But Have No Money

Online Divorce, Cost of Divorce

Written by Laura A. Wasser, Esq. It's Over Easy C.E.O.

So what happens when you know it’s time to move on from an unhappy marriage, but you’re not sure how to pay for it, or if you can even afford to do so?

You may be asking yourself, is divorce only for the wealthy? Absolutely not.

The Evolution of Dissolution

Online Divorce, Evolution of Dissolution

Reprinted from the American Bar Association's Just Resolutions Newsletter

Written by Laura A. Wasser, Esq.

I am a child of divorce. My parents separated when my brother and I were teens, and had one of the most respectful, amicable divorces possible in the mid-1980s, certainly due in part to the...

The Impact of COVID-19 on Spousal Support & Co-parenting Economics

Co-parenting, post divorce finances, Quarantine

Written by Attorney Laura Wasser, It's Over Easy Founder & C.E.O.

We are in week two of our remote law firm. Safe at Home is firmly in place and now that folks have figured out that the state of emergency may intensify,

Amicable Divorce & Co-parenting During a Global Crisis

Co-parenting, Quarantine

Written by Laura Wasser, Attorney & It's Over Easy C.E.O.

Wow, that’s a title I never thought I’d type. I have been doing this for a long time (practicing Family Law not writing articles) and I often think I have seen it all, but this COVID -19 situation is a whole new bowl of unknown for naviga...

Love & Divorce in the Time of Quarantine

Quarantine

Excerpts from this interview of Laura Wasser by Tyler Foggatt appear in The New Yorker

Do global pandemic and marital strife go together? Some experts think so, but, thanks to reality TV and cross-stitching, several spouses are making it through.