Divorce American Style

Alec Baldwin has written a book on divorce. In an interview, he stated, "The longer you hold out for what should be the right of every parent, the more expensive and painful the process becomes." Not commenting on any particulars regarding Baldwin's divorce, his observation is correct.

Dr. Helen notes, "But it makes me think that if Baldwin had such problems with the system with all his fame and money, what chance does the average joe have?" The answer: not much chance.

I serve on the Board of the Southern Utah Community Legal Clinic, and I volunteer time to low-income people who come in for help. That experience ratifies what I already knew: family law is in dire need of reform. People's supposed rights are trampled routinely on the basis of money.

Most Utahns and Americans cannot afford a lawyer -- and never will be able to. Why, then, if we claim to care about justice, do we mandate that only lawyers can provide legal help in family law issues? By so doing, we mandate that most people receive no legal help at all -- effectively teeing them up for spouses who can afford legal help. As a result, family law proceedings often magnify existing inequities in relationships, based on who controls the money. Whoever controls the money gets the legal help and comes out better.

Rather than mandating that only lawyers can help (when most people can't afford lawyers), wouldn't it make more sense to license non-lawyer providers who meet licensing requirements regarding expertise and ethics?