One of our favorite certified paralegals/non lawyer posted this today on Accent On Paralegal and Non Lawyer Services

That is a very good question especially in these times of economic crisis. Thanks to the Florida Supreme Court the answer is quite simply NO. You may have your divorce documents prepared by a nonlawyer, thus you would be representing yourself as a pro se litigant. Sometimes you may hear people refer to divorce nonlawyers as divorce paralegals. The terms are not interchangeable because of the way The Florida Bar defines a paralegal. However, most people refer to a legal helper for members of the public as a paralegal instead of a “nonlawyer”.

Now, back to your question. Lawyers are expensive and can only represent one party. You do not need to hire a lawyer for divorce proceedings. An alternative to hiring an attorney is hiring a “nonlawyer.” Typically, he or she will be able to assist you with these routine documents for a fraction of the cost. So just call your local nonlawyer for routine contested or noncontested divorces in the State of Florida. He/she may also be a Certified Paralegal who is certfied by a national organization. Just ask for credential verification.

And finally, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have published multiple documents in support of giving people choices for legal services. For more information visit www.afloridaparalegal.com and read words with Bev for more detailed information regarding these published documents.

NOTE: This article is intended to help you help yourself and save money in the process. Beverly Gagliardi is the President of Wisdom Consulting, Inc. Accent on Paralegal and Nonlawyers Services with offices located in Central Florida (Orlando and Sanford). She may be contacted at 407/324-5885 or bev@afloridaparalegal or mediatorbev@gmail.com. Her next article will be “DO I NEED A LAWYER TO FILE BANKRUPTCY?”