Thomas and Eleanor had been married for almost five years, but had been living separately for the last three years. There were no children born to the marriage. During the three years of separation they would periodically make attempts to reunite, but those attempts never held fast. Both Thomas and Eleanor came from families with parents that did not divorce and both tried to keep the separation from their parents. They were both greatly stressed by this dynamic. Eventually they recognized that they needed to move on and that sadly their marriage would not be saved. They had a joint bank account and Eleanor was a co-signer on Thomas' car loan, but other than these two things their finances were separate and they resided in separate apartments. Both were gainfully employed. Eleanor contacted me for a free telephone consultation during the late summer of 2012. I explained to her that if she and Thomas could come to a decision to resolve the divorce by Agreement, that we could complete the divorce quickly, inexpensively and without any unnecessary drama or stress. They needed to resolve the issues related to the joint bank account and the possibly more tricky matter of the joint obligation on the car loan, which would be ideally resolved by Thomas refinancing the loan in his individual name. In September 2012 Eleanor called me back and explained she was ready to proceed, that they had divided and closed the joint bank account and that Thomas was in the process of refinancing the car loan. We waited for about ten days for the refinance to be completed which it was and I prepared a complete, but simple Settlement Agreement that was basically a "walk-away-deal" in that he kept what was his and she kept what was hers. Eleanor approved the proposed Settlement Agreement and we forwarded it to Thomas, and he immediately agreed to the terms and signed off on it. Then I prepared the Complaint, Acknowledgment of Service and a few other documents required by the Court to resolve the case by settlement. All of these documents along with the Settlement Agreement were filed with the Court on the same day, and approximately 40 days later we were in receipt of the Final Order and Decree of Divorce. The total cost of the divorce was $1,200.00 including court costs, expenses and attorneys fees.
