OFFICE (314) 238-1219 CELL / TEXT (636) 236-1488

Dare to Compare

Discover why Linnenbringer Law is the universe's best way to divorce.

You have options when it comes to how to handle your divorce. If having your divorce languish in the court for months on end appeals to you, then filing your case pro se or having two attorneys battle it out in a contested case may be the right choice. If you or your spouse have a taste for interrogatories, depositions, court appearances, intrusive discovery motions, and everything else that may come along with a traditional divorce, then a two-attorney (or more) contested case may be right for your situation. On the other hand, if you and your spouse are able to come to the same conclusion that just because a marriage ends in divorce, that does not mean you have to abandon rationality, then consider saving your money, time, and energy by having your divorce handled by Linnenbringer Law. You can't go wrong choosing an attorney who has made a living by providing nearly three thousand couples throughout Missouri with high-quality, uncontested divorce services.

Just the Essential Information from Comparing Divorce Options page

Just the Essentials

This entire page is worth examining carefully. However, if you're short on time, here's the gist:

  • Divorces can be handled in a few different ways - on your own (pro se / self-represent), in a traditional manner, with both parties lawyered up, or through a one-attorney uncontested divorce, where the parties come to the attorney with their agreement in hand, and the lawyer does the in-court work and document preparation.
  • On this page, I provide a thorough, unbiased evaluation of how those three options stack up against one another.
  • Spoiler alert - an uncontested divorce through Linnenbringer Law, according to the scoring system used at the Linnenbringer Law office, turns out to be the clear cut winner.

You have options when it comes to how to handle your divorce. If having your divorce languish in the court for months on end appeals to you, then filing your case pro se or having two attorneys battle it out in a contested case may be the right choice. If you or your spouse have a taste for interrogatories, depositions, court appearances, intrusive discovery motions, and everything else that may come along with a traditional divorce, then a two-attorney (or more) contested case may be right for your situation. On the other hand, if you and your spouse are able to come to the same conclusion that just because a marriage ends in divorce, that does not mean you have to abandon rationality, then consider saving your money, time, and energy by having your divorce handled by Linnenbringer Law. You can't go wrong choosing an attorney who has made a living by providing nearly three thousand couples throughout Missouri with high quality, uncontested divorce services.

Testimonial from Mary, a former uncontested divorce client

Mary

I am very impressed with the services provided for me. Mr. Linnenbringer was very prompt, professional and answered my emails in a timely manner. He handled my divorce and everything went smoothly. If I ever get divorced again, he’s definitely my go to man.

Gerald Linnenbringer standing on podium winning gold medal

Divorce Provider Battle Royale

Three divorce options enter, only one leaves.

You have a few choices available to you when it comes to proceeding with your divorce. In this section you will discover how Linnenbringer Law's uncontested divorce service stacks up against two alternative divorce options. One option being a contested divorce case with two divorce lawyers, and the other being a pro se, self-represent divorce without legal assistance.

Frustrated Pro Se Divorce Litigant

Self-Represent
Pro Se Divorce Forms

On its face, a self-represented, pro-se divorce should be your least expensive option in facilitating your divorce. In completing (or attempting to complete) your divorce in this fashion, the only expense you should incur is the court's filing fee. This assumes, of course, that you have been able to avoid making a purchase from one of the many online "services" selling self-represent divorce paperwork, only to find out that Missouri courts do not accept the particular pleadings you have purchased. And, while falling for an online service's (or, dare I say, scam) claims may be an expense you would like to avoid, the larger financial risk could come from not properly addressing an asset or debt in your pleadings and settlement documents. I have seen errors and omissions made by pro se litigants that have had large and longterm ramifications on the parties.

If you take nothing else from your visit to my webpage, please take this: Whether you hire me or some other Missouri divorce lawyer to handle your case, you are making a good decision when you choose to have an attorney handle your divorce, as opposed to attempting to handle the case yourself with do-it-yourself divorce forms. You can find free or low cost pro se (a party who is unrepresented) divorce forms all over the internet. While these services may look promising, mostly due to the low cost of the forms and the money back guarantee graphics, I have had numerous clients who wasted their time, money, and effort, by trying to facilitate their divorce with internet divorce forms, only to have the forms rejected.

If I have not convinced you that your divorce is better handled by a licensed Missouri divorce attorney, and you insist on proceeding with a pro se divorce, please make sure you download and use the only Missouri-approved pro se divorce forms package. For the sake of our environment, you may consider whether you truly wish to proceed through the divorce process alone prior to printing the 66-pages of divorce forms and instructions. Please also remember that without an attorney handling your divorce, you will be required to file the case in court yourself, and then, once your case is set on a docket, navigate through your uncontested hearing, where certain legal elements must be testified to under oath in order to obtain a judgment for divorce. Filing your case without a divorce lawyer also requires your participation in a Pro Se Litigant Awareness Program.

VS.

Two-Attorneys Fighting in Contested Divorce

Two-Attorney
Contested Divorce

Some cases simply cannot proceed as uncontested divorces and will generally result in each party retaining a divorce lawyer (or lawyers, depending on the size of the family law firm the party employs). In cases where the parties have minor children, the court may deem it appropriate to appoint a third lawyer, a Guardian Ad Litem, who represents the interests of the parties' children. The costs associated with hiring these lawyers can be quite high. If you do an internet search for "how much does a divorce cost?", you'll see this for yourself. One of the top-listed articles quotes an attorney who claims that she had a client break down in tears after hearing the fees charged by the attorney for divorce representation [source]. A fee that causes a client to start weeping does not seem very reasonable to me, but I must be the odd one out here, as other online resources provide similarly high numbers for the costs associated with a contested divorce. Here are some snippets from around the web: "the generally accepted figure is anwhere from $15,000 to $20,000" ... [source] ... "(parties) who settled all of their issues reported spending an average of $14,500, including $12,200 on attorney's fees" [source] ... "costs will range from $25,000 to $50,000 per side" [source] ... "divorce is a $28 billion-a-year industry with an average cost of about $20,000" [source].

Before getting involved in a divorce court battle, consider the fees involved with that type of case, and give some thought as to whether an uncontested divorce could possibly make more fiscal sense for your particular situation. Who knows, it could end up saving you $14,000, give or take.

VS.

Gerald Linnenbringer celebrating in front of stars

Uncontested Divorce
with Linnenbringer Law

I believe that for many parties, an uncontested divorce through Linnenbringer Law is a smart choice for winding down their marriage. It's not possible for some, as it requires a certain level of trust between spouses and, further, for both of the parties to be fair, reasonable, and level-headed throughout the process. However, if you and your spouse are able to come to an agreement that both parties are satisfied with, my uncontested divorce service allows for a fast, affordable way to facilitate your divorce with a minimal amount of stress and inconvenience. Short marriage, long marriage, children, no children, millions in assets, or no property at all, it doesn't matter - almost any divorce can be any uncontested divorce.

The appeal of an uncontested divorce through Linnenbringer Law is that your divorce will be professionally handled by a licensed Missouri divorce attorney, in a prompt manner, and at a reasonable flat fee. Within days of providing the information that I need to complete the dissolution paperwork, along with payment of attorney fees, the client will have his or her rough draft pleadings in their inbox, ready for review. The client and their spouse review those pleadings and let me know what agreed-upon revisions are necessary. Upon those revisions being made, generally within 24 hours, the client has updated drafts for review. When there is mutual approval of those updated drafts, the pleadings are ready to sign and file. Once the case is filed, the client and spouse are essentially finished with their part, and I take it from there. If both parties are on the same page, moving promptly, and fully cooperating, a typical client's final divorce pleadings will be on the Judge's desk, ready for review, within five weeks of hiring Linnenbringer Law.

Linnenbringer Law beating the competition in tug-of-war

The Scorecard

"Ding. Ding."

  • A frustrated self-represented pro-se litigant
  • Affordability

    10

  • Speed

    0

  • Quality

    0

  • Total Score

    10

Self-Represent / Pro-Se Divorce

Scoring Breakdown

+ In theory, the only expense should be the court's filing fee.

+ Be aware of online services that sell you self-represent divorce paperwork, as Missouri courts will only accept specific pro se pleadings.

+ Mistakes or omissions in paperwork can lead to longterm ramifications that can be expensive to fix in the future.

+ Errors in the pleadings prepared by the pro-se litigant can lead to the case being dismissed, and the litigant wasting their time and forfeiting their filing fee.

+ Generally a very slow process, with few ways in which the litigant can speed things up (short of hiring an attorney to "push" the case through).

+ Provides litigants with what I can only assume is a frustratingly low amount of control.

  • Attorneys fighting over money in contested divorce
  • Affordability

    0

  • Speed

    0

  • Quality

    9

  • Total Score

    9

Contested Divorce

Scoring Breakdown

+ Extremely expensive and much too slow.

+ Pleadings and settlement documents should, hopefully, be of high quality.

+ In situations where one or both parties are attempting to conceal assets, a two-attorney contested case would be the most likely of the three divorce options to lead to the discovery of those assets.

  • Gerald Linnenbringer celebrating a win in the divorce provider showdown
  • Affordability

    10

  • Speed

    10

  • Quality

    10

  • Total Score

    30

Uncontested Divorce with
Linnenbringer Law

Scoring Breakdown

+ The only divorce solution to score a perfect 30 out of 30 on Linnenbringer Law's Official Scoring System, a complex matrix of factors that assigns scores based on Gerald Linnenbringer's opinion.

+ Affordable, fast, and professional service, with high-quality pleadings tailored to each client's unique specifications.

+ Allows spouses with children to move through the divorce process without so much contention and fighting, helping to minimize the disruption that a divorce can bring to the lives of the children.

Linnenbringer Law is the self-proclaimed winner