Frequently Asked Questions
Can you represent both me and my spouse?
No. Lawyer ethics require us to pick a side.
How can you do a good job for such a low price?
Back when I was a family law magistrate, I presided over thousands of family law cases a year. Back when I practiced primarily family law, I represented clients in hundreds of divorces, both contested and uncontested. Back when I was a certified family law mediator, I mediated hundreds of cases. Not surprisingly, I have asked hundreds of questions in these cases to be able complete someone’s divorce “paperwork.” However, in most of these cases, I really only asked a fraction of these possible questions, because based on some answers, there is no need to continue down a particular line of questioning. bdivorced.com accomplishes the same thing. bdivorced.com sifts through the issues as you complete the answers on your bdivorced.com dashboard. It only asks you the detailed questions necessary for the issues identified in your case. When all the answers are in, bdivorced.com then automatically drafts your paperwork that is necessary for an uncontested divorce – from the petition to the final judgment, and little forms in between. In a traditional setting, a lawyer and his staff would have to sit and edit all of the documents from in-house forms to customize the paperwork to your case. And then the lawyer has to carefully proofread the paperwork to check for any mistakes made in customizing the documents for your case. This can easily take a lawyer an hour or two. With hourly rates for lawyers in our firm running between $265 and $425 an hour, two hours to complete this task can cost a client an extra $530 to $850. bdivorced.com eliminates a lot of this traditional lawyer work. Instead of one of our lawyers spending an extra two hours customizing your paperwork and proofreading it, we have spent thousands of hours thinking of every possible question and every possible situation and building those into the bdivorced.com algorithm. That way, when your paperwork is put together by our system, it is 100% completed in most cases. That just leaves the task of our lawyers going through the paperwork with you and answering your questions. After that, if your paperwork needs any tweaking, a lawyer tweaks it. After that, the paperwork receives our seal of approval. So basically, we have built our expertise and decades of experience into bdivorced.com. That way, our paperwork is of the same high quality you would expect from our firm, but the automation minimizes the time a lawyer has to spend on your case. So, we save time and you save money.
Will I be able to speak to a lawyer as I complete the questions on the bdivorced dashboard?
We have designed the questions on the dashboard so that clients will hopefully not need to ask a lawyer questions as they answer them. Once you have responded to all of the questions, we will schedule a window of time for you to speak with one of attorneys and review the paperwork. You will log onto Zoom and be placed in a virtual waiting room. Once a lawyer is ready to speak with you, you will be admitted into the Zoom conference. You will then be able to ask our lawyer all the questions you have. Our lawyer will be able to make changes to your paperwork during your meeting, if necessary. Our goal is for all of your questions to be answered and for your paperwork to be ready to be signed by you and your spouse when that conference is over.
Once I am able to speak with my lawyer, will I have an unlimited amount of time?
We have set our pricing based on an estimate of how long we think most appointments will take. For an uncontested divorce with no children and no property, we set aside up to 45 minutes for the consultation. If you have children, we add 30 minutes. If you have some property, but not significant property, we add 15 more minutes. If you have significant property, we instead add 45 more minutes. So if you have children and significant property, two hours will be reserved for your appointment.
Will I have a specific time set when I get my online appointment with my lawyer?
In order to minimize the time our lawyers spend between consultations, we have adopted a slightly modified calendar-call system, similar to what is utilized by courts that handle large dockets. That is, we will provide the same time to more than one client. Some cases may literally take 5 minutes. If this happens, it is important to the firm that another client be in the queue ready for their meeting. By doing this, we minimize our overhead costs which we have already passed along to you in the price we charge for our service.
What if I want to talk to my lawyer longer than the time allotted for my divorce package?
Our goal is that almost all of our cases can be completed within the time budgeted for the divorce package. But just in case, we are willing to provide between 15 and 30 minutes more at no additional cost. In the rare cases, where that is still not enough time to address all of your issues, we reserve the right to require an additional payment. We are most likely to do this in cases where the client really did not have an uncontested divorce deal in place when they hired us and is really looking for general legal advice about creating a “deal.” In those cases where we require an additional payment, a client must purchase additional time in advance in 15 minute increments. However, we do offer at 25% percent off our firm’s normal hourly rate, which start at $265 an hour and go up to $500 an hour. The more complex the issues, the more likely a more experienced attorney with a higher hourly rate might be needed.
What if my spouse wants to make changes to the paperwork?
We allow one round of changes to be made at no additional charge. If changes are needed you will notify us through the portal as to what provisions may need to be changed, and one of our lawyers will either make the change or will contact you for more information. If there is more than one round of changes that need to be made, then we will consider that to mean your spouse is wanting to negotiate a “deal.” In those cases where we require an additional payment, a client must purchase additional time in advance in 15-minute increments at 25% percent off our firm’s normally hourly rate. Our normal rates start at $265 an hour and go to $500 an hour. The more complex the issues, the more likely a more experienced attorney with a higher hourly rate might be needed.
Will you work with a lawyer on the other side of a case?
If we are contacted by a lawyer representing your spouse, then we will consider that to mean your spouse is wanting to negotiate a “deal.” In those cases where we require an additional payment, a client must purchase additional time in advance in 15-minute increments at 25% percent off our firm’s normally hourly rate. Our normal rates start at $265 an hour and go to $500 an hour. The more complex the issues, the more likely a more experienced attorney with a higher hourly rate might be needed.
If it turns out that my spouse wants to “negotiate a deal,” or anything else happens that requires may to have to buy additional time, how much of an additional fee will I have to buy for in advance?
Each case is different. The lawyer working with you will estimate the time that the lawyer believes the additional work will require. You will be assessed that time in advance in units of 15 minutes. So, as an example, if the additional work will likely take 45 minutes, you will be required to buy three units of 15-minute time, which is the same as saying 45 minutes of time. If the hourly rare for your lawyer is $265 per hour, you will receive a 25% discount off of that rate, so the hourly rate for you will be $198.75. So, the cost of 45 minutes of time at the rate is $149.06, and that is what you would have to pay.
Will you file my case even if my spouse does not agree to the divorce?
No. You should only use bdivorced if have already talked with your spouse about getting an uncontested divorce, and have come to some general agreement as to the terms of the divorce. If you need to have that talk with your spouse, your agreement should include parenting issues (who will spent what time with the children, what school will they go to, and similar issues), equitable distribution (who will get which assets and who will get which debts), alimony (will any one get it, if so, who, and how much, and for how long), child support (you can use the bdivorced child support Guestimator™ to ball park this figure; so long as the official guidelines calculations based on you and your spouses income as listed in your financial affidavits is within 5% of that number, you can use it; otherwise you need to go with a number within 5% of the official number) and anything else you can think of that is an issue between you and your spouse.
I don’t really trust that my spouse will follow through on agreeing to the deal we have worked out. Should I still go for it by using bdivorced.com and just hope the best?
No, we recommend against that. Once the process begins, the fee is deemed earned and is not refundable. We would not be able to offer this uncontested divorce product at these price points if we offered refunds when spouses break their word.
Should I use bdivorced.com if I am not positive that my spouse will agree to the terms I want to propose?
No, we recommend against that. Once the process begins, the fee is deemed earned and is not refundable. We would not be able to offer this uncontested divorce product at these price points if we offered refunds when spouses break their word.
If my spouse agreed to a deal when we talked but then renegs after all the paperwork is finalized, can I get a refund?
No. Unfortunately, once the process begins, the fee is deemed earned and is not refundable. We would not be able to offer this uncontested divorce product at these price points if we offered refunds when spouses break their word.
If my spouse decides to contest the divorce after it is filed, even though my spouse signed everything, will you continue to represent me?
No. Bdivorced.com is only for divorces that start and end as uncontested divorces. If your spouse files a challenge to what he or she has signed, the divorce is no longer uncontested. If your case is pending in a county near Jacksonville, you can request that we represent you on an hourly basis in a contested divorce. If we decide to take your case on an hourly basis, a separate advance fee will need to be paid (though we may be willing to offer a limited discount off of our hourly rate to offset what you paid for bdivorced.com). You will also have to sign another agreement for legal services.
Should I use bdivorced.com if I think there is a chance that my marriage might not really be over?
We recommend against that. At Combs Greene, P.A., we believe there is great value in successful marriages. My wife, who is my lawpartner (the Greene in our name), and I have been married for almost 30 years. We know like everyone else that a successful marriage will have its ups and downs. We do not want to encourage you to get a divorce. We only want you to use bdivorced.com is you need to be divorced. If you are in a safe marriage, free of physical and mental abuse, and you are not sure that your marriage is really over, we urge you not to give up. We have seen plenty of marriages turn around with a little help and a lot of hard work. While it would be impossible for us to vouch for any particular counselor, there are groups that maintain lists of marriage counselors. These include:
- The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Maintains a list.
- If you are a Christian, there are resources for Christian marriage counselors too. These include a list of therapists maintained by Psychology Today as does the Counselor Directory Group
What services do you offer through bdivorced.com that a paralegal or document preparation service does not offer?
Paralegal and document preparation services offer you paper. That is it. Once they give you the paperwork, they leave it to you to either figure out how to negotiate the bureaucracy at the local courthouse to get it filed and signed off by a judge, or to go hire your own lawyer to do that for you. Once you hire us to help you, not only is the paperwork prepared, but we get it to the courthouse, and stick by you until the uncontested divorce judgment is signed by a judge.
Once the paperwork is completed, do I have to file it myself?
No. Unlike paralegal and document preparation services, we do not make you try to figure out how to negotiate the bureaucracy at the local courthouse to get it filed and signed off by a judge, or force you to hire your own lawyer to do that for you. Once you hire us, the paperwork is not only prepared, but we get it to the courthouse, and stick by you until the uncontested divorce judgment is signed by a judge.
Once the paperwork is filed with the court, how long does it take for the divorce to be final?
Once the paperwork is filed, it takes about 30 days.
Why does it take 30 days after the paperwork is filed?
There is normally a 20 day waiting period before the judge can sign the divorce judgment.
Can you get the 20 day waiting period waived?
Generally, the answer is no. In very rare instances, though, we can request that a judge do this. This may require an in-person appearance by one of our lawyers, and there is no guarantee that the judge will waive the waiting period. We generally reserve this for instances where a wedding has been scheduled and one of the parties suddenly realizes that their former spouse never finalized the divorce. There is an additional charge for this service which we determine on a case by case basis after we know more about your case. If you absolutely need this service, before you start your uncontested divorce at bdivorced.com you should contact us at needityesterday@bdivorced.com.
Should I use bdivorced.com if I know I need to be divorced by a specific date?
You should contact us at needityesterday@bdivorced.com and let us know what date you need your divorce by. If it is not within 90 days, we will proceed as normal. If it less than 90 days, we will still be able to assist you, but we will need you to complete your questions on the bdivorced dashboard with 48 hours of hiring us.
Will the paperwork be filed with the courthouse in the county where I live?
We will file your paperwork in a county where the court will allow a court reporter to be appointed to take the final hearing testimony outside of the courthouse. This may be some distance from where you live. So you do not get stuck traveling in the event you need to go back to court to enforce the judgment, unless you tell us not to, we include a requirement that the case be transferred back to your home county before you file any non-emergency motions.
If in the future I need to file a motion to enforce the judgment, will I have to transfer the case to my local county?
We strongly urge you to include a provision in your judgment that will require this. The small fee to transfer the case is minimal compared to the savings of getting your divorce through us using bdivorced.com.
Will I have to pay to have the case transferred to where I live if I need to enforce the judgment in the future?
Yes. There is a small fee to transfer and this fee is minimal compared to the savings of getting your divorce through us using bdivorced.com
Why is it that the support number provided by the bdivorced.com Child Support Guestimator™ is not the exact number that may be in my final paperwork?
The Florida child support guidelines are based off the parties’ net income. However, there are ever-changing tax laws that impact the calculation of an individual’s actual net income that go beyond the complexity of the Child Support Guestimator™. During your meeting with one of our lawyers, we will run your incomes through a third-party child support calculation program that takes into consideration the most up-to-date tax laws. If your number is within 5% of the amount determined by the Child Support Guestimator™, then you can go with that number. Otherwise, we are generally required to go with the number calculated during your meeting with one of our attorneys.
Is it possible to agree to less than the amounts set forth in the official child support guidelines?
It is difficult to get a judge to approve going 5% lower than the child support guidelines. We cannot guarantee that an uncontested divorce that calls for less than the child support guidelines will be approved by a judge.
I am logged into my dashboard and there are a lot of questions about time-sharing. Isn’t it possible to just agree to a standard guideline parenting plan?
Yes. At the beginning of the parenting plan module there was a question asking if you wanted to use the standard guideline parenting plan. You should be able to view that through your dashboard.
Does the price I pay cover entry of a child support income withholding/deduction order?
No. There is an additional $49.00 charge for us to prepare an income withholding/deduction order.
Does the price I pay for my divorce cover obtaining orders to divide retirement accounts?
While your divorce judgment will state that the retirement accounts are to be divided, it generally takes a second, very specific type of order to get the entity holding your retirement to actually divide it. That form is not included in your uncontested divorce package. Instead, there is an additional $499 cost for the preparation of orders to divide retirement accounts. We recommend that you have this order completed and entered at or near the same time of your divorce, but you are not required to. However, the longer you take to get the order entered, the more chances complications will arise when you got to get the order entered.
Either me or my spouse is pregnant. Should I use bdivorced.com for my uncontested divorce?
We recommend that you wait until the child is born to start your uncontested divorce at bdivorced.com. Some judges might refuse to enter an uncontested divorce until after the child is born. For that reason, it could take some time before your judgment is signed if the child is not yet born.
I do not have any children, but am pregnant. Do I really have to select a “with children” divorce package?
Because we must include most of the same language in your paperwork for an unborn child as a born child, we need all the same information for both. For this reason, yes, you must select a “with children” divorce package.
I have children, but I know that my husband is not the father of one or more them. How will this impact my divorce?
If you and your spouse have agreed on the paternity of the child, and the child’s biological father has acknowledged paternity by having their name placed on the child’s birth certificate (or having a paternity order entered), this will just require us to ask a few extra questions when your testimony is taken before the court reporter. If the child’s biological father has not acknowledged paternity in these ways, you should not use bdivorced.com for your uncontested divorce, until the biological father does so.
I am pregnant with a child, but my husband is not the father. What type of issues will this create?
You should not use bdivorced.com until after the child is born and the biological father has acknowledged paternity by having his name placed on the birth certificate (or entry of a paternity order).
My spouse and I are the same biological sex. Does that matter?
No. We have designed bdivorced.com to use appropriate language to accommodate same biological sex marriages
My spouse and I identify as the same gender. Does that matter?
No. We have designed bdivorced.com to avoid misgendering of clients and their spouses.
Answers by Steven P. Combs, Managing Partner of Combs Greene, P.A.