In spite of your efforts to work out your differences, you and your spouse have decided to get divorced. You are trying to decide whether or not you even need to go to court or if you should just settle things out of court by yourselves. You may want to consider getting a uncontested divorce with the assistance of an attorney.
When handled with the assistance of an attorney, a no contest divorce can be a fast, inexpensive and relatively stress-free way of handling a divorce.
What You Need to Qualify for an Uncontested Divorce
When a couple gets divorced, they must decide on the division of property and debt. If they have children, they must come to a custody arrangement and they must come to an agreement for child support or alimony payments.
In order to qualify for a no contest divorce in California, you must meet certain requirements. Your total amount of mutual debt must be under $6000 excluding car payments. You must not have any minor children, and no one may ask for alimony. Neither of you may have assets of over $38,000 and the marital assets may not be over $38,000. As with any divorce in California, one of you must have been a resident of the state for at least six months.
Faster Resolution
When a couple files for a traditional contested divorce, one party files the paperwork for a dissolution of marriage and has the other party served with papers. The other spouse will then file a response with the court. There will then be a hearing to decide the terms of the divorce. If one party slows up the proceedings by being disagreeable, they may end up footing the bill for court costs. The process of a contested divorce can take quite a while. First, you must wait for a court date, then you must go to court. It takes six months for a divorce to be finalized in the state of California.
If you have a non-contested divorce, you will simply fill out a dissolution of marriage form and file it with the court. You may want to have a lawyer assist you with the paperwork, and you definitely want to have a divorce lawyer in Orange County look over your paperwork before you file. It still will take six months for your divorce to be finalized.
Less Costly
A no contest divorce is much less expensive than going to court. A contested divorce can be very complex, and you can spend many hours arguing about the terms in court and the attorney cost may add up. You may miss time off of work and you will have to fill out a lot of disclosure paperwork.
Less Stressful
A no contest divorce is certainly less stressful than a contested one. Contested divorces can get ugly, especially if there is child custody, alimony or infidelity involved. If you and your spouse are able to come to an amicable agreement and file a no contest divorce, you will save yourself a lot of stress. You may want to go to marriage counseling before deciding on getting a divorce. They can help you find a way to communicate with each other and make your divorce go smoothly. An attorney can assist you with dividing your assets in a way that is fair to each of you.
No one ever goes into a marriage thinking they will get divorced. However, if you must part, you can at least be left with some good memories and a plan for the future.
Comments 2
I find it fascinating that an uncontested divorce could help you separate from your spouse without dealing with any legal problems afterward. I heard that my colleague wants to try living by himself again after learning of his wife’s cheating tendencies. Perhaps they should try doing this legal route by finding a suitable lawyer.
It’s interesting that you point out that an uncontested divorce costs a lot less money than a contested one. My wife and I decided to separate recently, so I’m thinking about hiring a lawyer that can help us have an uncontested divorce. I’m going to look for a good uncontested divorce lawyer in the area to hire.