Maybe.
A couple divorcing in Texas CAN use only one lawyer. They need to have full disclosure, and the lawyer can officially represent only one side.
The main advantage of using one lawyer for a Texas divorce is money – it makes for a cheap Texas Divorce.
Look at the major cause of divorce – financial difficulties. In a troubled economy few people are able to live separately on their available income. They avoid divorce proceedings for purely economic reasons. But if that becomes unbearable, then what can they do to make a divorce affordable?
consider A couple of approaches.
The Kitchen Table Approach This is a direct negotiation between the parties. It can work well if the parties are at a high functioning point in their lives and can effectively communicate with each other. If you are able to set down with your spouse “at the kitchen table” or other agreeable place and reach an agreement as to how to divide the property acquired during the marriage, decide where the children will live and how they will be supported, then you have a chance to do a divorce cheaply. You can take your agreement to an attorney who will file the proper papers with the court, prepare the Decree containing the agreements and conduct the final hearing where the court grants the divorce. The attorney can only represent only one party though. The other party would be given a chance to approve the Final Decree before it is entered.
Web-form Divorces. You may be thinking of saving even more money and avoiding an attorney all together. After all, for $30 you can access lots of forms on-line.
Don’t. Do. That. Judges hate do-it-yourself divorces, and with good reason. The courts are increasingly burdened with a number of people who cannot afford attorneys, are not eligible for legal aid, and attempt to represent themselves. Many of these are people who have obtained legal documents from various on-line websites in an effort to handle their own divorce. This is risky because these forms are not tailored to the requirements of the Texas Family Code and may well be rejected by the Judge.
On the other hand, attorneys love them. They get to charge 3 times their normal fees to clean up the mess from a do-it-yourself divorce.
Early Intervention Mediation When the parties are unable to negotiate their own agreement regarding their property and children, they can work together with a Texas neutral mediator either before the divorce is filed or after one is filed. The Texas mediator should be an experienced in family law and the mediation process. The parties meet with the mediator in a series of two hour sessions until an informal settlement agreement is reached and signed by the parties.
Either party may be represented by counsel during the process but the attorney(s) do not appear at the sessions. When a settlement is reached, either party may hire an attorney to finalize the divorce. If a divorce has already been filed by one of the parties, their attorney can reduce the agreement to a Final Decree and present it to the court for entry. This process is another way that a divorce may be obtained without both parties hiring lawyers. Board-Certified , retired family court district judge Craig Fowler with Hammerle Finley has been a certified mediator for more than 30 years..
