Like the celebrity ex-couple Katy Perry and Russell Brand, you may be starting the New Year newly single. If you’re thinking about unhitching the knot, one of your first questions might be: do I need a divorce lawyer?

Often people are so wrapped up in the emotional aspects of ending their relationship that they are not thinking clearly about their legal choices and what that will mean in terms of time, money and energy.

That’s why there’s a famous saying, “A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client.”

“The biggest mistake is people tend to be shortsighted about deal-making. Rather than settle on terms that are fair, they will fight about every little nitpicking issue,” said Erik W. Newton, a divorce and family law attorney in San Francisco.

If the divorce is uncontested — meaning both sides agree on all aspects of the divorce, the assets are not complicated and there is agreement about child custon, it is possible for the parties to do most of the paperwork themselves. They can hire a lawyer to complete the judgment, which covers all of the details of the settlement including property division, spousal support, and child custody. In some states, an uncontested divorce also requires a waiting period when the spouses are living separately without cohabitation.

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