The Pro Se Docket on Nov. 2

Yesterday I was at the Montgomery County courthouse and decided to sit in on the pro se divorce and family docket of the 418th District Court. It was a wonderful reminder that even what you might consider to be a “simple” case may not be so simple when you are asking the judge to sign the order you have submitted. And if the judge does not want to sign a proposed order written from someone in another state that is not even an attorney and sold for $50 on the internet then you go home empty handed to try again.

The Numbers

Let’s start with numbers. Out of everyone there at the 418th hoping to get their case finalized yesterday, the judge determined that half of them were not ready to be finalized for either procedural or substantive issues. And this was within the first ten minutes. Of the remaining cases, about half of those were ready to proceed and were finalized and the balance were left to make an appointment with the staff attorney to attempt to correct the errors. If you are keeping score at home, that is about 25% of the cases on the pro se divorce and family docket yesterday were completed. The rest were left to fix their mistakes and come back in up to six months later when the next opening on the docket is. And during that extra time you remain married each of you are still accumulating community property and community debt.

Are You A Gambler?

If you were at a casino and somebody offered you a game of chance where you only had a 25% chance of winning and a 75% chance of losing, how would you feel? Probably not a good bet to make in my opinion. That is basically what unfolded yesterday; a lot of people made a bad bet. Are you going to make the same bet?

The Alternative

If you don’t like to gamble or wait for many months until an opening on the pro se docket exists you can get your Montgomery County uncontested divorce done quickly with an experienced Woodlands Divorce Lawyer. Call me at (832) 592-7913 to get started.