I was a stay at home mom until 3 months ago, now i am looking at divorce. how do i afford legal council??

Question

I am the one who wants the divorce. I am trying to do this as painless as possible.. if that is possible. My ex wants me to be primary, but do a 50/50 divorce. I will need his help to keep a home for our children. He is very angry and verbally abuses me in front of the children. I just want it to be done. Any suggestions as I have no money, i just started working?

Answer 1

Look up Legal aid online or in the phone book for your state and area. They might offer pro bono or lower costs for income levels.  

Answer 2

This sounds like a really terrible situation. I'm sorry you're going through it. In a criminal trial, say, if you can't afford counsel you can get it for free. Unfortunately this is not the case in civil matters like divorce.

The other answerer mentioned legal aid and while they will sometimes get people free representation, this is rare. There are, however low cost ways to get divorced, particularly if it's non-contested. I've seen non-contested divorces advertised for as low as 200.00 even! The trick is that for this kind of divorce, literally all the lawyer is doing is the paperwork. Everything has to be agreed upon by the couple. As soon as a lawyer needs to help to mediate between the parties on finances, property use/ownership, visitation, etc, it can get expensive extremely fast.  

Answer 3

Save up money as you work.  Don't live paycheck to paycheck.  Limit your luxuries and put as much as you can in the bank.  Try to be self-reliant, and not rely on spousal support.

make sure that if you have custody, he pays child support.  If he has custody, you pay child support.  

    

Answer 4

Get a consultation with a lawyer.

You are married, thus by law, you have assets and community property. Meaning, you probably have rights to have the husband pay the lawyer fees.  I am sure he tells you that it's all his money, if he is abusive.. but that is pretty typical.  He may try and bluff you by what he considers his rights..but you need to talk with a lawyer as to what those rights are.