The state Supreme Court of Texas is considering whether to make it easier for low-income Texans to handle simple divorce cases without hiring attorneys.
At issue is whether to require all Texas district courts to accept standardized do-it-yourself legal forms in uncontested divorces.
While legal representation usually is the ideal way to go, says Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, there simply aren’t enough attorneys offering free services to the millions of Texans who can’t afford them.
“The problem is there are not enough lawyers taking these cases, or the funding to legal-aid organizations is inadequate these days to reach all of these people. We’re just trying to find solutions.”
He’s weighing whether making it easier for people to represent themselves puts them at a legal disadvantage. However, he points out that many Texans already are downloading online legal forms and instructions which don’t satisfy state requirements. It’s all too common, he says, for pro se litigants to make repeated, unsuccessful attempts to bring cases to court without knowing what they’re doing wrong.
“And so it just burdens the entire system, it frustrates the parties, and it wastes time and resources. It’s a very inefficient system.”
With 43 states already using some version of do-it-yourself divorce forms, Jefferson says, Texas probably could benefit from their experiences.
Attorney Karen Miller, who serves on the Supreme Court task force on behalf of the nonprofit Texas Legal Services Center, wants the high court to adopt standardized forms for divorces which don’t involve children or property.
Standardized forms would help free up legal- aid organizations to assist a greater number of low-income Texans with more serious and complex cases and will not hit attorneys pockets as these people are not using their services in great numbers anyway.
Divorce Online Texas provides County specific Texas divorce forms for pro se litigants. For more information click here
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