Getting a Divorce
While there is no such thing as a truly painless divorce, the divorce process itself does not have to be more stressful than the events that led to the breakdown of the marriage. Not everyone who gets a divorce in California goes to a divorce trial, and not every divorce case goes on for years. Although divorce with children may always take longer, it’s the best way to ensure that the custody of children gets handled well. This specifically applies to minor children in your marriage. The process of divorce with children may always require that both parties get allocated some parenting time for child custody. Therefore, child custody is an important aspect of the divorce with children process.
The divorce law in California states that the spouse needs to undergo mediation sessions that will enable the development of a proper agreement regarding the care for children after the divorce proceedings get completed. A divorce mediator can also be useful during such a process. If you and your spouse need help to work out parenting arrangements, you might want to consider a divorce mediation collaborative family law. Also, if you are of modest means, you might not need to spend thousands of dollars on divorce lawyers or a divorce attorney, even if you do not agree on all the terms of your divorce.
For many couples, the best solution is to hire a California non-attorney legal document assistant to prepare your divorce documents. A legal document assistant can help with any type of divorce. Apart from fee waivers, the divorce filing fee will significantly reduce. A legal document assistant such as A People’s Choice can help you in filing the mandatory divorce forms and ensuring that you fulfill every residency requirement. The divorce forms will contain every detail regarding your quest for dissolution in marriage or the end of a domestic partnership. In this article, you’ll get to know every detail that needs to get fulfilled before getting a divorce.
Contested Vs. Uncontested Divorce
A divorce process in which both parties have a mutual agreement is called an uncontested divorce or collaborative divorce. However, if your spouse gives a response to your divorce petition, you’ll have a contested divorce. In a collaborative divorce, the divorce cost gets significantly minimized since grounds for divorce are well-stipulated. Most couples wish for a collaborative divorce although this is usually not the case. If forced to undergo a contested divorce before a county courthouse, you need to file all the forms needed for a regular divorce. Important aspects such as division of marital property and parenting issues will get solved before the county courthouse. Other aspects handled during an actual court hearing for contested divorce include:
- Division of property
- Child support guidelines
- Division of debt
- Declaration marital debt and marital assets
- Medical expenses
- Child custody arrangement
- A parenting plan, and
- Financial issues
Most of these issues are not a challenge during a no-fault, uncontested divorce. Therefore, you can get a quick divorce by filing a no-fault, uncontested divorce. If you and your spouse need help to work out parenting arrangements, you might want to consider divorce mediation collaborative family law. A no-fault divorce prevents the parties from blaming one another for the end of a marriage. In most states, a no-fault divorce gets accomplished by stating under oath in court or in papers that you and your spouse have irreconcilable differences or are incompatible.
What is the Process for Getting a Divorce in California?
There are several different ways that your divorce case can proceed. If you and your spouse have already agreed about the division of property and, if you have minor children, about parenting time and child support, you can get an uncontested divorce. In that case, one spouse files a divorce petition, and then you both submit financial affidavits (financial documents) and a marital settlement agreement before asking the court for a final divorce judgment. The judgment will always get delivered after a particular waiting period. Your legal separation will then get formalized through a divorce decree. A divorce decree document gets presented showing that you and your spouse are divorced. If the judge orders your name changed in your divorce decree, your name will be legally changed.
If you and your spouse disagree about finances or parenting time when one spouse files a divorce petition with their requests for the terms of the divorce, and the other spouse files a response with their requests. After that, the parties usually attend mediation until they can agree on a marital settlement agreement. Couples who own very little property, do not have children together, and were only married for a short time can get a summary dissolution of marriage if their divorce is uncontested.
A quick divorce because of an irretrievable breakdown is therefore viable. Basic divorce procedures are followed during a quick divorce to accomplish everything within a short period of time. All the questions about divorce must get indicated in the divorce forms. The divorce records form must indicate the nature of your divorce. This enables an easy generation of a divorce certificate for both parties. Divorce coaches recommend that a fruitful divorce can get witnessed when property issues such as property declaration and property division are handled properly. Also, cases of legal custody for the children must get handled appropriately.
If your spouse ghosted you and you do not have current contact information for them, you can still file for divorce. If your spouse does not respond to the default judgment within 35 days after you publish a notice in the newspaper about your divorce filing, you can request a default judgment. In this case, the judge will grant all the requests you made in the divorce petition.
After the Dissolution Case is Filed, How Long Does it Take on Getting a Divorce?
Every divorce is different, but getting a divorce process in California can be over in as little as six months and one day. This means that, even if the parties have agreed on all the terms of their divorce, the earliest date that a judge can declare the marriage dissolved is six months and one day after the filing spouse served the non-filing spouse with divorce papers. This means that, if you served your spouse with divorce papers on January 2, your divorce can become final as early as July 3.
A People’s Choice Makes Filing for Divorce Painless
In most divorce cases, hiring a lawyer is an unnecessary expense. Contact A People’s Choice to get your divorce accomplished quickly, with minimal stress and expense.
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My husband purchased a Mobil home prior to our marriage. He paid cash. During the course of our marriage. The value has increased significantly. I contributed to the upgrades. He thinks there should be no compensation for what I contributed to in the marriage. He wants to file a dissolution Divorce. is that an option?
Hello Rebecca, I am not sure exactly what your question is, but a spouse can be entitled to certain property. I would obtain legal advice, but please call the office on 800-747-2780 if you need any assistance with the documents.