I can not afford a divorce lawyer, so how do I go about submitting a "no-fault" divorce myself or do I need a lawyer?

Depending on your case, there are so many little things that can go wrong in a divorce that is really worth hiring a lawyer to do it for you.  Many lawyers will charge a modest flat fee for a simple uncontested divorce.  That said, the basic steps of the process are as follows:  Step 1:  File a Complaint for Divorce - some counties may have sample forms you can use for this. Step 2:  Serve the other party.  This can be done by the Sheriff or a private process server, by publication in the newspaper if you do not know where the other party lives or if they reside out of state, or the other party can sign a Waiver of service. Step 3:  Have your Final Order for Divorce approved by the court.  Again, sample forms may be available in some counties.  Check with the clerks office or library of your local Circuit Court. Step 4: Conduct the Final Hearing.  A hearing must be done with you and a witness to verify all of the necessary information.  Sometimes Step 3 and Step 4 can be done in reverse order.  That is, you can either submit your final order for preapproval, along with a "Request for Ore Tenus" and then go to court for your final hearing or you can do your final hearing by deposition and then submit the paperwork afterwards to the court for review. If I've lost you at any point here, then you will understand why I encourage you to simply let a lawyer take care of this for you.  We do hundreds of these, so we know all the ins and outs of getting you through this process as quickly and easily as possible. This answer is given in accordance with the laws of Virginia and may not be applicable in any other state.  It should not be construed as legal advice, as that would require a more thorough analysis of all of the facts involved in a specific case.