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Do I Need an Attorney for a Divorce in Georgia?

Even in amicable, uncontested cases, legal counsel ensures proper procedure and protects against costly mistakes. A skilled divorce lawyer provides strategic guidance, helps avoid common legal traps, and ensures smoother court navigation. Most importantly, your attorney remains a steadfast advocate during a difficult and emotional process. EMC Family Law offers trusted support every step of the way.

In last month’s article, we answered several questions that couples seeking a divorce in Georgia ask us more frequently. One of them was, “Do I need an attorney for a divorce in Georgia?” Our answer? “Yes.”

But there are still people across Georgia who make the mistake of pursuing a divorce action without having a trusted legal counselor by their side through the process. In some cases, that may not lead to significant adverse outcomes. In others, failing to secure counsel can be nothing short of disastrous for one or both parties.

This month, we’re exploring some of the many reasons why anyone who is party to a divorce in Georgia should enlist the services of a skilled divorce lawyer – such as the talented family law practitioners at EMC Family Law.

Your Divorce Lawyer Helps You Make the Right Decisions

Family law is tricky. What seems cut and dry may not necessarily be so. Even if your divorce is amicable, uncontested, and no-fault, making a bad call early in the proceedings could have unintended negative consequences further down the road.

People tend to associate lawyers with conflict. Most media depictions of lawyers involve them spending day after day in court, fighting voraciously for their clients’ rights. While that’s part of the job, another huge part involves guiding clients through uncontested legal processes.

In the case of a simple, uncontested divorce, your divorce attorney is not there to win or lose something since there’s nothing to be won or lost from your spouse. Instead, your legal counsel is there to make sure that some procedural error in finalizing the divorce doesn’t cause problems for one or both of you in the future.

Of course, if the divorce proceedings do turn adversarial, your lawyer is there to make sure that your decisions are all moving towards a positive outcome for yourself.

Your Divorce Lawyer Keeps You Out of Common Traps

When a divorce becomes acrimonious, the usual tendency is to go into attack-and-defend mode – and going into that mode has caused otherwise intelligent people to make horrible mistakes that not only lead to a bad divorce settlement but also can lead to criminal charges and civil liabilities.

Your attorney will help show you why you need to avoid falling into the common traps that too many people run blindly into. Hiding assets, smearing your ex among friends and family, and turning your kids against your soon-to-be-former spouse are all terrible ideas that will never help your case and could lead to fines, penalties, and – in some cases – jail time.

Your attorney also helps you avoid falling into the traps that these kinds of unethical behavior lead to: either reacting with rage and an equal measure of bad behavior or deciding to take the punishment and accept whatever the court will give you. Your attorney knows that there’s light at the end of the tunnel and can help you stay on an even keel in the face of a spouse who’s become a bad actor.

Your Divorce Lawyer Knows the Courts

No matter whether your divorce is a simple, uncontested affair or a knock-down-drag-out battle lasting for months, your divorce will not be final until a judge signs the formal divorce decree. Before that happens, there are lots of steps to reach the end of the process.

Your divorce lawyer knows the courts and knows how to maneuver through the formalities quickly and efficiently. While the timing of the final decree is entirely at the mercy of the court’s dockets, your lawyer’s knowledge of the courts can help make the proceedings smoother.

If the attorney is known and well respected by the court and its officers, they’ll be able to reassure the judge for an uncontested divorce that the proceedings will be quick and painless. At the very least, they’ll understand the court’s lead time and reassure you that the delay is normal and that everything is proceeding normally.

Your Divorce Lawyer Is on Your Side 100%

Divorce is hard. For whatever reason, you’re separating from someone that you’ve loved and trusted, and it can push you into a bad headspace where you feel like you can’t trust anyone.

Throughout your divorce proceedings, if you have counsel by your side, you’ll always have someone you can trust. No matter what happens, your divorce attorney will always be on your side.

Notice that we didn’t say that your lawyer will always agree with you. If you start down a road of bad decisions, your attorney will absolutely call you out and encourage you to stop doing what you’re doing. But no matter what guidance you’re getting from your divorce attorney, and whether you agree with it or not, they are giving you the advice that their expertise and knowledge of the law allows them to provide.

But when things are looking bleak, if the situation has gotten messy, or if you’re experiencing the normal emotional response to the death of something like a marriage, you can always trust your attorney to listen to your concerns and worries and provide you with the guidance you need to navigate the divorce and start your new single life in a better place.

Preparing to Go Through a Divorce? We Can Help: Call EMC Family Law Today!

Our attorneys offer trusted, helpful legal guidance through every step of any divorce, no matter how contentious or complicated. Give us a call and let us guide you through your next steps: 770-225-7000

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