“We’re bringing family law into the 21st century” or so claims a new website that is hoping to make divorcing online a reality. But is divorcing online an option in the real world?
A new website has been launched in the USA to a limited number of users who want to take care of their divorce proceedings online. The website called separate.us is going to be aimed at people who want to turn legal terminology into plain language and reduce the cost of divorce and the associated legal fees.
The service aims to set a bench price on filing costs and legal fees and wants to do the opposite of the many websites out there concerned with making connections between people rather than breaking them.
Whether the service takes off or not is another matter. It is difficult to imagine how a complex divorce could be handled online. This is particularly the case where there might be children involved or assets that need to be distributed fairly between divorcing couples.
The Internet may be good for some things but for others like divorce and other complex legal proceedings, there will still be a need for experts in family law as there is no one size fits all when it comes to divorce. The new website also opens up the possibility of people making the wrong decisions on divorce simply because it it is easy to get it done quickly online. This could lead to regrets which may outweigh the savings made.