Review Summary: OnlineDivorce.com is a legit company located in San Ysidro California that was founded in 2001. They claim to have helped more than 500,000 people file for divorce, which is a good track record to hold. Although, they are currently holding a C- rating from the BBB and mixed TrustPilot reviews, so we feel that there are much better online divorce services for you to consider. We reviewed their service below for your convenience.
Our Rating: (3.0/5.0 Average)
Our Rankings: OnlineDivorce.com comes in #6 out of 10 in our “Best Online Divorce” rankings that you can view here. Our #1 recommendation is 3StepDivorce, you can read our detailed review here, or check out 3StepDivorce now >>.
Divorces are an unfortunate part of life, and everyone who has been through one would agree that the faster that period of your life is over, the better. In this post, we’re going to cover one of the best ways to avoid much of the waiting involved in divorces, not to mention the expense of hiring lawyers.
Specifically, we’re going to be looking at OnlineDivorce.com, which is one of quite a few internet-based companies to start assisting consumers with filling and submitting legal forms. Rather than having a lawyer do the paperwork for you, a series of online forms help you generate the required paperwork.
Divorce is a complicated subject, so different people will have different needs throughout the process, some of which can be fulfilled by OnlineDivorce.com and some of which cannot. This review is intended to help you decide whether this web platform is a good way to assist you and your partner get an amicable divorce.
What is OnlineDivorce.com?
OnlineDivorce.com is an internet legal services company that was founded in 2001. Since that time, they claim to have helped half a million people get through the process of divorcing.
The best way to think about OnlineDivorce.com and similar sites is by comparing them to websites like Simple tax. Essentially, in both cases, they are web platforms that ask you a series of questions in simple English to fill in a complicated legal form based on your answers.
The ease of using OnlineDivorce.com makes it a great option for couples seeking an uncontested divorce, helping you fulfill all the steps that you would usually need a lawyer’s help for.
Who Is Eligible To Use OnlineDivorce.com?
Anyone seeking a divorce in America (as well as some Canadian provinces) can use OnlineDivorce.com to prepare their divorce documents as long as they are seeking an uncontested divorce.
Requirements
OnlineDivorce.com is a good fit if:
The location of both spouses is known
You and your spouse don't have a lot of assets or you 100% agree on the division of the assests
You and your spouse agree on co-parenting terms (or you don't have children)
You and your spouse are not arguing and both want an amicable divorce, or a mediator is involved and you need to complete your own divorce papers.
Keep in mind, it costs an average of $15,000 in attorney fees if you file for divorce with an attorney. So it is financially a good option to use an online divorce service such as OnlineDivorce.com or 3StepDivorce, which is our #1 choice of online divorce companies.
To get a divorce using OnlineDivorce.com, you have to follow a four-step process.
First, you need to check if you qualify for using the service. This mostly involves establishing that you and your spouse have agreed on how to split up all of your joint property and, if you have kids, how custody is going to work.
You can only get an online divorce without lawyers if neither of you will contest the terms of the divorce. If you and your spouse disagree about anything to do with the settlement, you will both need lawyers and will likely need to go to court.
Also, it’s essential to make sure that you both satisfy the state’s residency requirements in which you are filing for divorce. Since every state has specific requirements for determining residency, this is an important step.
Second, there’s a lengthy questionnaire covering all the information needed to go onto your divorce forms. You’ll need to answer many questions to get all the information onto your filing forms, covering things like your addresses, incomes, information about your children, and many other topics. You’ll want to take some time to complete this step to make sure that all your answers are true and accurate.
Third, the website’s systems will generate completed legal forms that you need to check for accuracy and completeness. Mistakes and incomplete forms can lead to delays and other problems, so you want to double-check everything.
After that step, you and your spouse will need to both sign the forms before filling them with the court in your state.
The fee you pay for using the OnlineDivorce.com service doesn’t include the court fees for filing, so budget for some extra expenses.
Exactly how much you’ll wind up paying in filing fees depends on the state in which you seek a divorce.
What’s Included?
As we just went over, OnlineDivorce.com doesn’t include a filing service or the filing fees you’ll need to pay. However, up until that step, the website offers all the services you’ll need. It even provides detailed instructions on how to file your documents specific to the state you’re filing in.
They also offer over-the-phone customer service that can help you with any questions about the service you might have. They can’t, however, provide legal advice as they are not lawyers. They’ve even won awards for their customer service.
A feature I particularly like is the possibility of making revisions and changes for free. No matter what mistake you make during the process, even something as major as having a type in your or your spouse’s name can be changed without incurring any extra costs.
Some other online divorce websites might charge you or make you begin the whole process again if you make a mistake with something significant.
There’s also only one fee that covers both of you and your spouse, without the need for both of you to pay to access the documents. That’s consistent with OnlineDivorce.com’s view of the divorce process as something that should be easy and painless for everyone involved.
Easy to Use?
The online software offered by OnlineDivorce.com doesn’t present a challenge even for people who are technologically challenged. It’s really clear how to use the form, and the questions it asks are straightforward and well-explained. You shouldn’t have any problems navigating all of the steps necessary to get your completed documents and be ready to file.
Editing Capabilities
As I mentioned above, OnlineDivorce.com lets you make any changes you might need at any point during the process. If you see a mistake on your forms after the final versions have been delivered to you, you can go back and make changes.
Customer Support
OnlineDivorce.com has customer service representatives that can be reached in several ways, including via email and an online contact form.
You can also call them directly to get in touch, using a number that has service from 10 am to 8 pm EST during the working week.
Guarantee
OnlineDivorce.com has two notable guarantees that show they are responsive to their customer’s needs and will take responsibility if they don’t fulfill them.
100% Court Acceptance Guarantee
If there’s a problem with your documents that prevents the court from accepting them, OnlineDivorce.com will take responsibility and refund their fee.
First, however, they will do their best to make the changes necessary for the documents to go through the court system without any additional fees. Should they be unable to get the court to accept the documents, they’ll issue the refund.
It’s worth noting that this guarantee only comes into effect when the issues with the documents are the result of a mistake by the company. If you’ve made a mistake when answering the online questionnaire or overlooked something when checking over the completed forms, then you won’t be eligible for a refund.
30-Day Refund Policy
You’re also eligible to request a refund without 30-days if you aren’t happy about the service or have changed your mind about filing for divorce.
There are a few limitations to be aware of: you cannot have used certain aspects of the site and still qualify for the refund, like the post-purchase questionnaires, forms, or state-by-state filing instructions.
What States Are OnlineDivorce.com Available In?
You can use OnlineDivorce.com to get a divorce in all 50 states in America.
Because the system revolves around helping you to complete the divorce forms that need to be filed to end a legal marriage, it’s a question of changing the questions that are asked during the questionnaire to make sure all the information that a given state requires is complete.
Impressively, you can also use OnlineDivorce.com to get a divorce in some parts of Canada. If you live in Ontario, New Brunswick, British Colombia, Manitoba, or Alberta, you can get a divorce online using this service.
Pro Tip: Remember that these services are only available if the divorce is uncontested. If both spouses agree on the divorce terms, you can use OnlineDivorce.com or our top recommendation 3StepDivorce.
If you have all the necessary information on hand and have figured out all the important questions regarding splitting assets and child custody, you can complete the questionnaire in as little as 30 minutes and definitely within two hours.
After that, you’ll have to wait three business days to get access to the legally binding documents that you’ll file with your local courts.
Note that OnlineDivorce.com offers an option to expedite the preparation of your documents for an extra fee.
How Much Does OnlineDivorce.com Cost?
The basic document preparation service that OnlineDivorce.com offers costs $139.
There are some additional add-on services that you can access if you pay an extra fee, including the expedited document delivery mentioned above. You can also pay to have the website take care of serving your spouse and filing the documents on your behalf.
Pro Tip: You still have to pay the court filing fees for your local jurisdiction, These filing fees will cost you an additional $100 to $400 depending on where you are filing for divorce.
Is OnlineDivorce.com Legitimate?
Yes, OnlineDivorce.com is a legitimate company that provides the services they claim to.
OnlineDivorce.com Reviews Online
There is a mix of reviews of OnlineDivorce.com on the internet.
BBB
The Better Business Bureau gives the website a rating of C- as a result of some complaints about the quality of customer service.
On other sites, you can find negative reviews that complain about that same issue, but it’s difficult to tell how justified these complaints are because of the high emotions that are attached to the sort of work that OnlineDivorce.com does.
SiteJabber
On Sitejabber.com, the company comes off a little bit better, with a rating of 4.5 stars out of five.
TrustPilot
On the other hand, Trustpilot.com gives them an average score of 3.3 out of 5.
Pros and Cons of OnlineDivorce.com
As a service, OnlineDivorce.com has both pros and cons that you should think about before signing up for the service.
Pros
Low Cost – At $139, the service is budget friendly option for those that are tight on funds.
Easy to Use Site – The Questionnaire and all the other site functionalities are well-designed and clear.
Name Changes and Revisions are Free – You won’t be stuck paying penalties for simple mistakes.
Cons
Storage Fee – The extra $24.99 that you need to pay per month of online storage is a pain, but can be avoided by downloading and then deleting your documents.
Complaints about Customer Service – If you need to solve an issue, you might deal with long wait times and poorly trained staff.
OnlineDivorce.com Competitors
In this section, we’ll take a look at three popular competitors to OnlineDivorce.com.
3StepDivorce.com
This competitor is another document preparation website that specializes in helping their users fill out the legal forms they need to finalize their divorces.
3StepDivorce.com is highly regarded as the best online divorce option you can choose. Overall, you will find their website to be very easy to use, affordable and your divorce documents can be completed quickly.
Additionally, their customer service is best in class and you will have access to additional value-added services such as their “divorce negotiation platform” which is extremely helpful for divorcing spouses.
This is why they are our top pick of all the online divorce websites we reviewed.
CompleteCase.com is another one of the better online divorce options you can choose, it is not the cheapest or the best overall in our rankings but still a solid choice. They boast that they have over 700,000 customers in the last 20+ years of being in business.
While they do have some mixed reviews online, these should be read and evaluated by you before making a final decision. We did a review of CompleteCase's service here for your convenience.
ItsOverEasy.com
ItsOverEasy.com is positioning itself as a premium online divorce service for those that want more hands-off options.
Because of the premium “white-glove” service they offer, they also have a premium price tag. Keep in mind, the cost is still far below what using a divorce attorney would cost. We reviewed ItsOverEasy.com's service here for you to check out.
Pro Tip: We did a full ranking and review of all the best online divorce services that are available today. If you are considering using this type of service for your uncontested divorce, please check out these reviews to make an informed decision before you make a purchase. Check out our review of the top 10 now >>
OnlineDivorce.com Alternatives
The most obvious alternative to OnlineDivorce.com is to get a family attorney or divorce lawyer.
If you are having any disagreements about your divorce with your spouse, it is best to get an attorney to ensure both parties are represented correctly.
Another alternative to OnlineDivorce.com is to go to your state’s court systems website and download and fill out the forms without the use of an online divorce service.
However, this option can be cumbersome and you are on your own because they will not have customer service or provide any assistance.
Lauren Cook-McKay is the Vice President of Marketing at DivorceAnswers.com. She holds a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) from the University of San Diego and applies her training in private practice to helping couples struggling in their marriage. She believes there is hope in all marriages and strives to provide therapy to couples that will lead them back towards a loving marriage, or an amicable divorce that brings peace and closure.
