torn apart by a contested divorce
For many people, divorce is a difficult time, wondering what went wrong with the marriage, and what will happen next, but when it is a contested divorce, it can get very messy. A divorce is contested when it becomes impossible for the two parties getting the divorce to agree on how to divide up their marital assets, support, and in some cases child custody. When this happens the parties agree to have a judge decide for them.
Now as you can imagine, this does take time, and couples often go for mediation sessions first to see if that can help make the decisions agreeable to both.
There are several steps involved in a contested divorce, and it begins with one person meeting with divorce attorneys and choosing one they think will help them the most. Once this attorney is chosen, he or she will conduct a lengthy interview, gathering all the relevant information and documents concerning the marital assets, children of the marriage, along with other information they feel is pertinent to the case. With this data, the divorce petition will be prepared and filed in court.
After filing, the divorce petition is served to the other spouse, by mail, in person, or by a deputy sheriff. If the spouse cannot be located, then notices will be published in local papers, and the finalization process will be delayed, giving time to find the spouse.
You need to check on the length of time needed for a contested divorce in your particular state, or country as they do differ a little. Make sure you find out this information ahead of time, so that you know exactly what to expect.
The spouse is usually given 30 days to respond to the divorce petition. If this doesn’t happen, the spouse is said to be in default, and you could be given a default judgment of divorce. However, if your spouse does respond, then the case continues onto the discovery and settlement stages.
The discovery process is where both spouses provide detailed information about their marital assets, their income, and any other issues which are relevant to the case such as the custody of children, or sometimes animals. This information is documented in great detail.
If child support or alimony is involved, then the spouses may request temporary court orders on these matters.
The court judges always encourage spouses to come to an agreement themselves on the division of property, but the judge may order spouses to attend mediation sessions if this doesn’t look like it will happen. The mediator is an unbiased third party, who helps the couple negotiate any issues that are not yet settled.
If the couple are unable to reach an agreement before the final court date, then the discovery stage continues, and the case becomes scheduled for the divorce court. However, the judges do encourage the couples involved to try all means to reach that agreement on all matters.
If the petition goes to trial, then both sides will be able to cross examine witnesses and make closing arguments. The length of time that it takes for your petition to come to trial depends on the state you live in. The judge assigned to your case will listen to both sides, and will then take some time to review all the information and write a final order. The length of time for this process depends on the judge’s work load, and also on the complexities of this particular case, and how much information has to be processed to come to a fair decision.
With the completion of the trial and the order from the judge, each spouse has the right to file a post trial motion for relief from this final judgment, and this usually has to be done within 30 days. If one party files, then the other party has 30 days in which to respond to this motion.
Should the post trial motion be denied for any reason, there is a process of appeal that can be filed, again within 30 days. For the party seeking the appeal there are usually a few months granted to file the lower court record with the appeal court, and to file the brief. Then the other party has 30 days to respond with their brief.
If this case is affirmed, then the case is over, but if the case is reversed, then the court will send the contested divorce case back to the trial court for more proceedings.
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