Wrong on so many levels....

Can You Sue An Attorney For False Advertising?

I heard on the news that there is an attorney up in Michigan who is having some kind of contest by which he is offering a “no cost divorce” as a Valentine’s gift for some couple whose story is somehow deemed best.  Now  this just seems wrong on soooo many levels.  For Valentine’s Day….the day that celebrates LOVE?!?  Only an attorney could come up with something like this  If you don’t believe me, go back and read some of the ridiculous laws that are on the books…..things like sleeping in bathtubs or ice cream on cherry pie.  But basically, I think he is offering something that does not exist, don’t you?

Oh, I know, what he plans on doing in skipping his fees (which, of course, if you’ve ever been through a divorce means that he will probably select a couple who already has all the settlement worked out and agreed upon…not someone who is going to have to go to court time and again over issue after issue).  Don’t know how he plans on handling court fees, though….maybe he’ll donate them, too.  But really, don’t you think it makes more sense to discourage people from getting divorced if at all possible, rather than encouraging them to do it as a Valentine’s gift?

But the idea of a “no cost” divorce is crazy.   Try to tell that to the single parents out there, struggling to make ends meet on the one income of the household.  Tell it to the divorcee, eating popcorn for supper, alone in an empty house.  Or tell it to the children who only see one of their parents every other weekend, and one evening a week.  Tell it to the grandparents who didn’t get to see the grandchildren last Christmas because they were at “the other parent’s house.”  Tell it to the lonely woman, whose husband left her for a younger woman after 25 years of marriage.  Tell it to the divorced person going out on a date with someone he or she cares about, nervous about telling that person about the fact that they are divorced, feeling like damaged goods or second-hand merchandise.  Tell it to the couple who are in their second marriage, when they don’t have shared memories about the birth of their children.  Tell it to the kids of the “blended” family who are suddenly having to adapt to a new step parent whose expectations and discipline style are far different than they are used to in their house.  Tell it to the dad who lives hand to mouth while a major chunk of his check goes in alimony/maintenance to a woman who no longer loves him.  Tell it to the teachers at the children’s school, who have to make sure there are duplicate copies of grade reports and that the parent picking up the child today isn’t prevented by a restraining order from doing so.  Or tell it to the person who was divorce decades ago, but who still has moments of sadness when that anniversary comes around or pictures of long ago vacations fall out of a drawer. 

No cost divorce?  Really?  Don’t you believe it.  In today’s world, there are many who try to convince folks that is the truth.  But it never is.  Oh, I am sure there are those who pretend it doesn’t matter, that they just have moved on in life.  And there are those for whom the divorce was a necessary evil, to protect their safety and/or sanity.  And there are parents who manage to work together in an amicable way for the sake of the children.  But the fact is, the children will never again be able to experience growing up in an intact home with both biological parents present.  And the adults will never forget that they have experienced the trauma of a broken marriage and faded dreams, or feel the sadness of a failed marriage, even if they believe they gave it their best shot. 

The greatest attorney in the world could never deliver a “no cost” divorce.  However, we do have an attorney in heaven, who will help those heal who have had to go through one:  “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ² He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”  ----1 John 2:1-2 (ESV)

And our attorney, Jesus, ALWAYS keeps His promises, and always has our best interest at heart!

TL:dr  The costs of divorce are far more than financial.