Divorces have gone online.

For a fee of $249, a couple seeking a divorce can go online to www.completecase.com, answer a series of questions and print out divorce documents customized to their state of residence.

According to the Web site, the process will “enable you to complete your divorce from the comfort of your home without incurring the cost of an attorney, or dealing with lengthy completion and delivery periods.”

Attorney Barbara Mack said the cost of an attorney is worth the extra money.

“What a rip-off,” said Mack, associate professor of journalism and mass communication. “You’re paying a lot of money for very little service.”

Lawyers can provide other legal advice beyond the divorce, such as advice regarding taxes, she said.

The cost doesn’t include filing the paperwork, which is determined by the county courts.

In Story County, the cost of filing a divorce petition is currently $80, said Janet Baldus, Story County trial court supervisor.

A decree fee to finalize the divorce is $30. As of July 1, the cost will raise to $100 and $50, respectively, bringing the total price tag of using the online service to $399. There may also be additional service fees, Baldus said.

For the state of Iowa, the Complete Case Web site outlines residency requirements, grounds for divorce, child custody and support and other basics of the state’s laws for do-it-yourself divorcees.

“The online service doesn’t sound a great deal different from books that have been available for some time,” said Attorney Jere Maddux. “We’re just in the modern age of the Internet.”

Maddux, who has a private practice in Ames, said he has found that a person can benefit from an initial conference with a lawyer, however.

“Clients have come thinking they have a simple, straightforward divorce, and left realizing that they haven’t thought of everything,” Maddux said.

“It is possible to have every detail of a case figured out, but only a small percentage of all divorces are that simple.”

Maddux said many of his clients have utilized the Internet as a research tool. Before consulting him for legal advice, they have looked up Iowa laws and gained a general knowledge of the process, he said.

The Web site leaves experts in marriage and family therapy torn, said Ronald Werner-Wilson, assistant professor of human development and family studies.

“On one hand, there’s a movement across the country to recreate fault divorce,” Werner-Wilson said. “The thinking behind this movement is that if divorce is more difficult to obtain, it will ultimately improve relationships.”

Though Werner-Wilson acknowledges that many couples may give up without trying, he said many people try to make divorce simplistic.

They try to use the covenant of marriage and the fault divorce system to solve a problem that is “really not that simple,” he said.

“There’s a whole rhetoric in our culture that divorce is always bad,” Werner-Wilson said. “In some cases, divorce can be the best solution to the couple’s problem.”

Sometimes nothing can improve the relationship, he said. For people in an abusive relationship, filing for a divorce online might be the safest way to do it.

“When safety is at stake, it might be an asset for those whose life is threatened and safety is threatened,” he said.

Michael Upah, assistant director for business development for the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, agrees that in some cases an online divorce may be a good option. If the couple is young and doesn’t have children or a lot of assets, an online divorce can be a good method, he said.

However, when issues are more complex, the site would not be a good choice.

“The Internet is simply a means of communication.” Upah said.

“I would imagine that the forms that are filed over the Internet could be obtained and filed by individuals without the Internet – the Internet simply provides convenience,” he said.

” Either way, I would have the same concerns about making a legal decision without a full understanding or appreciation of the ramifications,” Upah said.

“The Internet is great at automating processes,” he said. “During the time when dot-coms were all the rage, everything was being sold online. But since then, a lot of common sense has returned to the industry.”

“In the case of divorces, the Internet pulls professional advice out of the process.” Upah said. “Is that really in someone’s best interest?”