Well you can absolutely file for a divorce on your own. The problem is unless you really know what you’re doing you’re asking to really screw the pooch on that one. I mean the problem that you had, there is some forms in Texas, just like you have in every state, that will allow pro se litigants to go ahead and file. The problem is when you get down to drafting decrees and things like that, if you are dividing assets, if you have anything that is confusing at all, let’s say that you’ve got 401(k)s that need to be split, or IRAs, or pensions, or things like that.

That’s going to necessitate drafting of qualified domestic relations orders, and those are very complex documents that are going to make sure that you can divide these retirement assets without them becoming a taxable consequence. Well if you don’t know that, let’s say you split an IRA that’s $100,000.00. So it’s yours. You write a check to your wife for $50,000.00. That’s a taxable event. So you’ve all of the sudden created a whole lot of problems that didn’t need to be there. Those are the types of things that people run into.

Now getting into it over on the child custody side, you know, it’s just as treacherous, if not more. I mean you want to make sure that you’ve got an order in place that’s going to be enforceable. So somebody isn’t toting the line the way they need to be, you know, you need to make sure that you’ve got the ability to go back to the court and have a remedy to be able to fix that situation.