Over the past few months on this blog, I’ve covered many of the issues that we consider in mediation when a couple is planning to file for divorce.  My posts in this series have examined everything from how to divide marital property, how to calculate child support, and how to make schedules for holidays for the children.  Along with resources such as the free forms from the West Virginia Supreme Court, these posts may help you decide whether or not you want to retain a lawyer, reach an agreement before you select a lawyer or file for divorce, or if you want to consider collaborative law.

Welcome to the next post in this series on filing for divorce without a lawyer in West Virginia. Since I practice in West Virginia, Virginia and the District of Columbia, the instructions for each jurisdiction are described in separate blog posts.

If you have followed these posts, you may have taken the first steps and decided that you can file for divorce. You and your spouse went to mediation and now have a written parenting plan and property settlement agreement. What’s next? How do you get to court?

If you are wanting to get a divorce in West Virginia, but cannot afford a lawyer or prefer to file your case without a lawyer, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has created an excellent resource on their website that can provide you with all of the documents you need to file for divorce.   The website also has paperwork and forms to file to change child support.