Regular Divorce
In a regular divorce, the parties disagree concerning the details of the divorce, such as child custody and/or division of property/debt. These divorces can be expensive, unpleasant, and can take a lot of time.
Very Basic Overview of the Regular Divorce Process:
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One of the parties hires an attorney.
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Attorney will prepare initial paperwork.
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After preparation, spouse signs the papers and the attorney will file them with the Court.
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Then the paperwork is served on the other spouse (this means he or she is "officially" given the paperwork).
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Served spouse has 20 days to answer.
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Once the served spouse has answered, the parties trade any pertinent information by way of their attorneys. This is called "discovery."
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During and after this time, the spouses will negotiate, often by way of their respective attorneys.
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If the spouses cannot reach agreement, the attorneys will set a pretrial conference to advise the Court of issues that cannot be resolved.
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The Court will set a date for a final divorce hearing.
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Final hearing will take place.
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One attorney (usually the attorney for the filing spouse) will prepare the divorce decree for both parties, their attorneys and the Judge to sign.
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After the Judge signs the divorce decree, it is filed with the Clerk. At THAT point, the parties are divorced.
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This process can take from several months to years.
See Also: Quick Divorce, Default Divorce