Uncontested Divorce
What is an Uncontested Divorce?
An uncontested divorce is where both parties are in agreement with the divorce being filed, the division of all assets and custody arrangements when children are involved.
Step-by-Step Process
- Give our office a call. We will have a few questions for you and will schedule an appointment for you to meet with Mr. Duncan.
- During your appointment with Mr. Duncan, you will need to have already discussed with your spouse what terms you agree upon. Mr. Duncan will walk you through all the different things that will need to be covered, so don’t worry if we ask about something that you didn’t think of – that’s why we are here.
- If you decide that this is the route you want to take, you can retain our services immediately after meeting with Mr. Duncan, or at a later date if you need more time to think it over or to discuss things further with your spouse.
- If some time has passed since your consultation with Mr. Duncan, we will review the information with you again if some time has passed, just to make sure that nothing has changed or that we have all the information needed.
- We will start preparing the paperwork.
- After all the required documents are prepared, we will give you a call to schedule an appointment for you to review. Once you have approved and signed the documents, we can contact your spouse and have them come in to review and sign off as well.
- After both parties have signed all the paperwork, most of the documents are filed with the Court. This is what starts the clock running for the Court required “cool-off” period – 60 days if no minor children are involved; 90 days if there are minor children.
- Once the required amount of time has passed, we can either send the documents to the Judge for their approval (in some situations) or schedule the hearing. In either case, once the Judge has signed the Final Decree, your divorce is complete.
Do’s and Don’ts of an Uncontested Divorce
- DON’T pull money out of your retirement account to pay off unsecured debt
- DO look at other options such as bankruptcy, debt consolidation or debt negotiation first.
- DON’T sell or transfer property (land, vehicles, jewelry, guns) if you are thinking about filing; If you do absolutely need to sell an item of property for reasonable or necessary expenses
- DO make sure that you are receiving FAIR MARKET VALUE and preferably to someone outside your immediately family or friend group.
- DON’T use your tax refund to purchase luxury goods or expensive vacations.
- DO use your tax refund to catch up past-due utilities or secured debt, buy your children needed clothing or other necessities, make vehicle repairs or any other reasonable and necessary expenses.
- DON’T wait until the creditors have starting suing you – this can lead to judgment liens being filed or your wages being garnished;
- DO talk to an experienced bankruptcy attorney as soon as you realize that you can no longer pay your bills.
- DON’T continue to use credit after you have decided that you may need to file bankruptcy since debts incurred in the 90 days prior to filing may not be discharged;
- DO discuss any recent credit purchases with your attorney so that there are no surprises.
- DON’T hide things from your attorney. One of the worse things you can do is to not be forthcoming in a bankruptcy proceeding. If your attorney does not know about it, he cannot prepare or guide you in the right direction;
- DO disclose all assets, debts or potential asset that may be coming your way.
FAQ
- An uncontested divorce is where the parties have reached an agreement between themselves as to the division of property, child support and custody and that the divorce is desired.
- A contested divorce is where the parties have one or more items that they cannot reach an agreement on.
Absolutely! As long as both parties agree to the terms of visitation, child support or other items covered in the Court mandated parenting plan, then an uncontested divorce can be filed.
Although the Court Clerk’s office in some areas does provide free divorce documents, these are only available to parties that do not own real property or have children. Also, if you have substantial debt or assets, you may want to hire an attorney to prepare the documents to make sure that all your bases are covered.