[caption id="attachment_62012" align="alignright" width="300"] Free Divorce on Valentine's Day, Lawyer Runs Strange Conest[/caption]Michigan Attorney Runs Valentine's Day Free Divorce Contest

An attorney in Michigan has devised a unique way to get attention for his services as a divorce lawyer. Walter H. Bentley III is advertising a "2013 Free Divorce Valentines Contest" for one individual who tells the most heart-wrenching story about why they should receive Bentley's legal services to obtain a divorce for free.

Only contestants seeking uncontested divorces with no messy child custody issues are eligible to win the free Valentine's Day divorce services.

Bentley says that fees for legal services to obtain a divorce can run as high as $3,000.

He also noted that an individual who has recently lost their home, got a diagnosis of cancer or some other serious illness, or simply doesn't have the money needed to get a divorce are all good candidates for winning his unusual Valentine's Day promotion.

Bentley's website gives contest rules: "The winner will be chosen based on the most compelling and convincing story as to why they should be the winner. The divorce is limited to an uncontested divorce with no or minimum child custody issues." It's limited to Michigan residents. The deadline for applying is 11:59 p.m. EST on February 12.

He tells ABC, he got the idea from one of his students who was celebrating getting a divorce "She'd just had her divorce finalized," says Bentley, "and she was celebrating. I'd never thought about that before—celebrating divorce. So, I thought, why not do something special for Valentine's Day? You can't find a new love before you close the chapter on the old."

Americans spend over $110 billion dollars annually on legal help to get out of their marriages.

On The Web:

Attorney Offers Bizarre Valentine's Day Promotion: A Free Divorce
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/attorney-valentines-day-promotion_n_2671166.html

Valentine's Day Special: Free Divorce
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/free-valentine-day-divorce/story?id=18467302