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30 days
The Best Online Divorce Services of 2024
Forbes Advisor Ratings
What Is an Online Divorce Service?
Online divorce services are websites that help you complete divorce forms on your own. You then file them and proceed with the court procedure on your own. There are many online divorce services with differences in prices and services, so it is important to compare and contrast before making a choice.
The service does not finalize your divorce or interact with the court at all. They are just a document preparation service.
How to Choose the Best Online Divorce Service
The best way to choose an online divorce service is to first evaluate what your needs and abilities are. Ask yourself these questions:
- Do I feel comfortable completing legal forms myself or would I rather have a service that does that part for me?
- Do I want an attorney to look over my paperwork before I file it?
- Do I want to have the ability to pay an additional amount to talk to a lawyer?
- Am I in a hurry or do I plan to take some time to work through the process?
- Do I need help negotiating with my spouse or are we in agreement?
Once you understand what your needs and preferences are you can look to the services that meet them and compare their ratings and prices to determine what is best for you.
Essential Services
If you choose to use an online divorce service, you want to be able to access state-specific forms that you will be able to file with your court. That is the bare minimum of what you should be looking for.
Access to attorneys, mediation or negotiation services and articles with information about the divorce process are nice to have, but not essential.
Court Acceptance Guarantee
When you pay for an online divorce service, you want to be sure that the forms it generates will be accepted by your court and if they aren’t that the site will either give you your money back or fix the errors.
Pricing & Fees
No matter how you cut it, online divorce services are a massive cost savings compared to the thousands of dollars you could spend with an attorney. Plan to spend at least $137 for an online divorce service and more if you want any extras at all. Additional services could include speaking with an attorney and paying to have your forms printed and mailed to you.
You can reduce your costs by printing the forms yourself. You can save even more if you skip using an online divorce service completely and just obtain the forms from your state, but you won’t get any guidance as to how to complete them.
The more you pay, the more you get with online divorce services. If you want a lawyer to review your documents or you want to talk to an attorney, you’ll pay more but will gain the peace of mind that a legal review can provide.
How to Prepare for a Divorce
Divorce is a very emotional process, but the court process is focused on financial matters. To prepare for your divorce you should do the following:
- Be sure you really want a divorce
- Talk with your spouse to determine if you can agree on a settlement
- Gather documentation including tax returns, pay stubs, bank records, credit card statements, investments, mortgage or lease, debts and more
- Determine if you want to file for divorce yourself (with or without an online divorce service) or hire an attorney
- Get basic information about the divorce requirements in your state and whether you qualify
- Decide if you want to use an attorney, a mediator, an online service or handle everything on your own
Divorce is an important decision and it is a complex process that impacts your financial stability and parenting rights for years to come. Be certain before you make any decisions.
When Should You Get An Attorney?
Online divorce services are designed to be used only in an uncontested divorce. If you and your spouse have few assets and debts, have no kids or completely agree about custody and have reached a settlement, filing for the divorce is just a paperwork process. The hard parts have all been done. In this situation, an online divorce service can help you quickly and inexpensively fill out the papers and move on with your life.
If, however, you have a complex financial situation and cannot reach an agreement with your spouse about all of the other issues involved in the divorce, hiring an attorney will ensure you protect your rights and get the best possible outcome in your case.
If you feel you don’t understand the divorce process, are unsure what you are entitled to, believe your spouse is hiding assets or domestic abuse is an issue, an attorney can help you understand your rights and make the best decisions for your circumstances.
If you want an annulment, you cannot get a divorce with an online divorce service and need to talk to an attorney.
The bottom line is that an online divorce service is great if you know exactly what you want, have nothing in dispute and just need to get the papers filed. If you have any complicating factors at all, it makes sense to at least talk to an attorney to understand your options.
Methodology
In order to be considered for this survey of the best online divorce services, a site needed to offer one of three services.
- The site completes all your divorce paperwork and files it for you,
- The site completes all your divorce paperwork and instructs you on how to file or
- The site guides you through completing your paperwork on your own and the process of filing the paperwork yourself
Because a contested divorce requires a hearing and a judge, most of these services are only available if you and your spouse agree to an uncontested divorce. You can find out more about what an uncontested divorce is with our guide, but it means you must agree on all terms of your divorce.
Therefore, the best online divorce services discussed here are only available if you and your spouse agree on the division of property, spousal support, child custody, child support and every other possible issue. It’s worth remembering, though, that many of these services can still help you file and begin the divorce process even if they can’t see you through every step.
This analysis was conducted by first searching for all available online divorce services that offered service in all 50 states. Once that list was obtained, the sites themselves were consulted to gather pricing information, available services, and to get an overall impression of the company.
Reviews were gathered and considered from a variety of sources including professional reviews and customer reviews from the Better Business Bureau, Google and Trustpilot. Once all these factors were taken into consideration, the results were compared against similar analyses to ensure that our information was a valuable addition to the topic while also making sure we hadn’t overlooked any important considerations in our own assessment.
We have found that the best online divorce services do not charge fees for accessing your information and documents and do not charge subscription fees after only 30 days. Those limitations are especially problematic with those services that offer limited feedback opportunities—how can you be charged a fee for taking too long to finish your documents if you have to wait days for answers about how to do it?
The best online divorce sites guarantee that your state court will accept the documents they prepare for you, and they provide guidance and support in gathering information from your spouse as well as the information you have to provide. Only 3 Step Divorce and It’s Over Easy checked all these boxes, making them the clear choices.
As Hard As Divorce Might Be, An Online Divorce Service Can Make It Easy
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Online Divorce Services
Will my court accept online divorce papers?
Most of the services reviewed are careful to state that they are not offering legal advice but are rather assisting you in representing yourself. They are, therefore, not guaranteeing that your court will accept the papers they help prepare. That being said, they are in the business of keeping up with requirements in different states and wouldn’t be able to stay in business if they charged for unreliable services.
On the other hand, some of the services provide guarantees that the paperwork they help you create will be accepted or your money back.
Are online divorces legal?
You can’t actually get fully divorced online. You’ll need to sign paperwork—often in the presence of a notary—and file it with the clerk of court. Your spouse will have to be legally served with paperwork. Some states require a brief hearing for uncontested divorce.
It’s perfectly legal to hire someone else to prepare the paperwork, however. Having the documents prepared online by a service like those discussed in this article can be a way to streamline the process and get the help you need with the paperwork.
Are there other online divorce services?
There are lots of other online divorce services. We only considered services that serve all 50 states. There may be regional or state-specific services near you that provide excellent services. In fact, many attorneys now offer online services in addition to their traditional practices. You may have far more options for online divorce service than you see in this article.
There are also many online divorce services we did not include in this review because they were very similar to ones we did review or because they did not meet our standards. Take your time to consider all the options available to you before you choose a service for your divorce papers.
Can I get a divorce online for free?
If you meet your state’s financial requirements to be considered “indigent” or a “poor person,” you can get all the court fees waived in your case. Most states offer free online access to divorce forms through their websites. When you combine those two things, you can have a free divorce, However, that is a divorce without any legal assistance or help at all.
If you need legal assistance and are in financial need, you might qualify for help from a legal aid agency or for pro bono (free) legal services through an agency or volunteer lawyer program.
Even if you qualify for these services and waivers, you may still have to appear in person in court to finalize your divorce.
How long does an online divorce take?
Many of the online divorce services state that you can complete their forms in under an hour. However, you must then print them, sign them before a notary (in some situations), have your spouse served, file them with the court and possibly appear in court.
Some states have waiting periods you must adhere to before a divorce can be finalized which can add months to the process. Some cities have busy court calendars with waits of several months for a court date. If your divorce is uncontested and you complete the paperwork correctly and follow all the steps, you can likely be divorced within a few months.
Can you get a divorce without a lawyer?
You absolutely can get a divorce without a lawyer. There is no requirement that you have an attorney. Representing yourself is called appearing “pro se.” Even if you choose not to hire an attorney you can use an online divorce service to complete the paperwork.
What is an uncontested divorce?
An uncontested divorce is a divorce in which both spouses agree on all the terms and issues in the divorce. There is no trial since everything is resolved by the spouses. They submit a settlement agreement to the court which becomes the terms of the divorce judgment.
An uncontested divorce can also occur when one spouse does not respond to divorce papers and does not appear at all. In that situation, the filing spouse proceeds with the case uncontested and the court grants them what they request if it is reasonable.
A contested divorce occurs when you and your spouse are not able to agree on the terms of the divorce. If you can’t come to a settlement, your case goes before a judge for a trial. The judge then decides all of the issues involved in the divorce and issues a divorce judgment you are bound by.
How do I check the status of my divorce online?
If you are using an online divorce service, you check contact their customer service for information on the status of your document preparation.
Once you have filed your papers with your court, your state likely has an online system where you can track the status of your divorce if you have a case number. You can also call the court clerk to ask where your case is at in the process. If you have an attorney, they can update you as to the status of your case.
