From Michael Kiefer at the The Arizona Republic; 'E-Court' eases pain of divorce
Nov. 30, 2004 12:00 AM. Call it Turbo-Divorce: starting Wednesday, couples seeking a divorce or legal separation in Maricopa County can log on to a Superior Court Internet site, fill out a questionnaire modeled on the popular TurboTax software for preparing income-tax returns, and print out legal documents. It's a handy resource for couples who already have their divorce issues worked out but can't afford, or just don't want to deal with, an attorney or a document preparer. E-Court, as it's called, eliminates many of the errors that average people make when they try to write their own legal documents. "In excess of 80 percent of our family court litigants are self-represented," said Family Court Judge Norman J. Davis. "They don't have an attorney. It's the first time they've done it, usually, and they're confused on how to do it."
Arizona requires a 60 day cooling off period, strangely similar to the cooling off gun law, before a divorce can actually be filed. Court officials noticed that those representing themselves either didn't fill out packets handed out at the courthouse correctly or failed to push their own cases through to the end. The joy of the online form? If you make a mistake, it tells you! Forms don't have to be filled out all at once and are saved on court databases in case ones spouse has no idea how much on one despises them.
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