3 ms·

Here's a story from my divorce 25 years ago. We were having an easy divorce, and so we used Nolo press to get it done. But it was difficult to know what forms a

by beej71 2y ago

Here's a story from my divorce 25 years ago. We were having an easy divorce, and so we used Nolo press to get it done. But it was difficult to know what forms actually had to be filed in our case. So we went to the clerk, and said, out of all these forms, which ones do we have to file? And the clerk said that they couldn't tell us because that would be offering legal advice. The lawyers had gotten laws passed preventing the clerk from telling us what forms we needed to give the clerk. Nice. After a couple of minutes of thought, we decided to just fill them all out. So we filled out everything and handed it to the clerk. The clerk then proceeded to cherry pick the forms they needed, and handed the rest back to us. ("My sole regret is that I have but one face to palm for my country.") I think in the last 25 years, it's probably only gotten a lot worse.

busyant 2y ago
Another (non-divorce) story. * My wife and I own several rental properties. * The properties are in an LLC that we formed. * I went to local housing court to file papers for an eviction (non-payment of rent). * I hand the paperwork to the clerk and the clerk says, "I need your ID to determine that you actually own the property ..." * Me: "Actually, my name won't be listed. It'll be listed under the name of our LLC." * Clerk: "Then you can't file the eviction yourself. You have to be represented by a lawyer." * Me: "???? Can't I just prove that I'm an officer of the LLC?" * Clerk: "No. If it's not directly owned by you, you need a lawyer to proceed with the eviction." * Me: "But I can represent the LLC in every other capacity that I can think of. You're telling me that I can't do this on my own?" * Clerk: "I don't make the rules ..." $1500 later, I have to keep my lawyer on task to file the paperwork. <grumble>
gamblor956 2y ago
The law does not actually prohibit the clerk from telling you what forms you need to give him to finalize an uncontested divorce in any state in this country. If it was against the law, the Nolo books you used wouldn't exist. The clerk wasn't going to tell you which forms you needed to give him, because if the divorce had been messed up by you giving him the wrong forms on his advice, he could have been sued for the financial losses you and your ex-spouse incurred. But it's convenient to blame it on the lawyers...

by beej71 2y ago

busyant 2y ago

Another (non-divorce) story. * My wife and I own several rental properties. * The properties are in an LLC that we formed. * I went to local housing court to file papers for an eviction (non-payment of rent). * I hand the paperwork to the clerk and the clerk says, "I need your ID to determine that you actually own the property ..." * Me: "Actually, my name won't be listed. It'll be listed under the name of our LLC." * Clerk: "Then you can't file the eviction yourself. You have to be represented by a lawyer." * Me: "???? Can't I just prove that I'm an officer of the LLC?" * Clerk: "No. If it's not directly owned by you, you need a lawyer to proceed with the eviction." * Me: "But I can represent the LLC in every other capacity that I can think of. You're telling me that I can't do this on my own?" * Clerk: "I don't make the rules ..." $1500 later, I have to keep my lawyer on task to file the paperwork. <grumble>

gamblor956 2y ago

The law does not actually prohibit the clerk from telling you what forms you need to give him to finalize an uncontested divorce in any state in this country. If it was against the law, the Nolo books you used wouldn't exist. The clerk wasn't going to tell you which forms you needed to give him, because if the divorce had been messed up by you giving him the wrong forms on his advice, he could have been sued for the financial losses you and your ex-spouse incurred. But it's convenient to blame it on the lawyers...