We occasionally get callers asking if they can file their own annulment. Usually, the question arises because the individual in question finds himself or herself short on money and they’re looking for a way to obtain an annulment without having to pay an attorney.
We get that. We like to save money too. With certain things in life, though, as you well know, trying to save money ends up costing you more, not to mention create headaches for you.
Filing a Nevada annulment is one of those things. They are much more complicated than divorces due to the requirement that a valid reason as per Nevada Statutes be stated with specificity in the annulment forms, as well as due to the way it must be presented, in other words, how it’s written in the pleadings.
The best you can do to save yourself money is to find an attorney who will only charge you a flat fee, rather than ask for a retainer and bill against it by the hour. Also, as with everything, it’s best to retain one with lots of experience with Nevada annulments. We don’t recommend that you represent yourself, as is the case when you complete annulment forms and file yourself, or when you hire a typing service to do that for you.
Several times each month, we get calls from people who filed their own annulment and had it denied. For us, or any other attorney, to step in at that point ends up costing the client more money because now we not only have to do everything we normally do to get an annulment granted, we also have to review all the filings and strategize to not say things in the new filing that will make the client’s story look contradictory.
Usually, those clients’ annulments were denied because the valid reason was improperly stated, or it wasn’t even valid at all under Nevada Statutes. There are many valid reasons allowable under Nevada law for annulments, but they must be presented with specificity and written in legal language your lawyer spent a lot of time learning in law school. So, don’t beat yourself up if you filed an annulment case yourself and it was denied.
Another thing that affects whether or not your annulment will be granted, is that there are lots of courts and lots of judges in Nevada; some are liberal while others are very conservative when it comes to granting annulments. You won’t know the best court to file your type of annulment and you won’t know how to write your valid reason in such a way that satisfies even the toughest judge. Another type of call we get is from people who bought annulment forms from a typing service and now want us to “just review it” before they file. Our office, and no other attorney’s office that we know of, will review documents that someone else prepared, knowing that the client will then file it in Proper Person. It’s a liability issue for the attorney who, by reviewing documents and pointing out changes to be made in them essentially gave legal advice. The outcome of the case can then be blamed on the attorney even if he or she did not represent the client at court.
So, clip coupons for groceries, shop the sales for electronics, get Groupon or LivingSocial to save money on restaurants, but make the wise choice and spend the money it takes to get a good annulment attorney to represent you.
