Web site will make it easier to get divorce forms

Monday, December 27, 2004 12:19 PM CST

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Some Wisconsin court officials are developing special divorce forms and a statewide Web site to make it easier for residents to get out of their marriage without hiring a lawyer.

There were 17,150 divorces in Wisconsin in 2003, according to the state Department of Health and Family Services. Many want to represent themselves in these cases, and judges are looking for ways to help them do that.

"We have people coming in with forms from Minnesota," said Taylor County Circuit Judge Gary Carlson. "People want to do it themselves ... but it makes it harder for us if they don't know what they're doing."

Carlson, who said 75 percent of the people seeking divorce in his courtroom represent themselves, is among a group of court officials putting together a Web site and developing a set of divorce forms for people representing themselves.

They hope the forms, to be available statewide, will allow divorcing couples to avoid spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on lawyers and avert problems in the courtroom. The new idea aims at helping people file their petitions correctly.

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The forms will include a series of questions about the petitioner's background to help determine what kind of divorce the person is seeking. And the Web site will include a list of frequently asked questions to clear up any confusion a petitioner might have.

"It will not solve all problems, but it will get most people into the courtroom," Carlson said.

The Web site, expected to be running by spring, would be a big improvement from resources available now, Carlson said. Right now people can buy a user kit that helps in filling out forms for about $25.

But some divorce lawyers say representing oneself in divorce doesn't always work.

"There are a lot of little pitfalls," said Marvin Margolis, a Milwaukee lawyer with Margolis & Cassidy law firm. "Sometimes (people) come to a lawyer three or four years later because they discover they've messed up."

He admits, though, the bulk of divorce cases would benefit from the forms, if they address many divorce petitioners' questions.

"Sometimes we find out a couple of years later they didn't deal with the retirement plan, or they didn't transfer the home the way it's supposed to be transferred," Margolis said.

Waukesha County judges have found online forms provided by the county circuit court's self-help center have helped smooth the process for some divorce petitioners, said Tera Nehring, the center's program coordinator.

The center pulled its online forms, which had been used for close to two years, and is waiting for the state's proposed site to be up and running.