Have a friend trying to get a free dissolution out of me.... It's hard because she actually is a good friend. I understand that she doesn't have cash, and I really do get that. I also understand my student loan payments.... Moreover, it seems no one has money anymore/everyone wants something for nothing. If I do things for free, I won't make any money/ever be able to pay off my student loans/live.
This case is something we charge $500 for so it isn't minimal. Morever, there's a petition for disillusionment, a separation agreement, and a judgment entry, and you need to meet a time or two, or more in order to work those things out. Then there's a hearing. Then you've got to get a copy of the final orders (certified at $1/page by court) for work purposes plus any QDROs (Qualified Domestic Relations Order). Also there's usually changing back to a maiden name (but here she never changed her name in the first place). That doesn't even touch the very real risk that if they don't agree 100% then they can't have a dissolution, which screws over the whole thing.
She basically looks at is as "cheaper than a divorce," which is true, but it just isn't that simple. She's essentially asking for several pages prepared by a lawyer (I won't do that "just look it over" shit, because then I'm stamping my seal of approval on someone else's work and could have that come back on me).
She's also trying to be smart and calling the domestic relations court and they are telling her the filing fee for where she is is $150, which is TECHNICALLY true. However, that isn't the only filing fee. Remember that certified judgment entry at $1/page...? That doesn't account for QDROs either. Yeah, the court has a little fee for everything.... It'll easily be $200, at least, but "she heard" that it was $150.... [facepalm]. At least listen to me damn it.... I don't care what the court told you.... [shivers] It isn't the whole truth....
Imagine you're a doctor who can heal the sick; you're surrounded by the sick; the hospitals aren't hiring; and no one really seems to appreciate what you can do....