5 Tips for Getting an Uncontested Divorce
If your marriage is ending, the best possible scenario is to get an uncontested divorce. This type of divorce means that you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse agree on terms like asset and debt division, child custody and support if you have minor children and spousal support.
To make sure the process goes as smoothly as possible, here are five tips for getting an uncontested divorce.
Hire Separate Lawyers
Although you may agree on everything, you should at least consult an attorney to ensure you haven’t forgotten anything when making divorce decisions. However, it is important that each party retains a lawyer.
Conversations between a lawyer and their client are privileged information, and there may be other business you wish to discuss with an attorney that you don’t want your soon-to-be ex-spouse knowing.
Get Agreements in Writing
When submitting information to the court, a couple will need to present a divorce settlement agreement outlining everything from the division of property to agreeing on spousal support. If you and your spouse agree on these things, make sure it is in writing and signed.
Go to Mediation
If agreements cannot be reached on certain issues, such as visitation of minor children, then try mediation before letting the courts make these decisions. Once the courts are involved, it is no longer an uncontested divorce, and it can become contentious.
If there are only minor issues to iron out, let a trained mediator try to help reach agreements to move the divorce process along. However, don’t agree to anything you feel isn’t right just to speed up the process.
Make sure you agree with every decision so that you won’t have regrets later.
Know the Time Limits
An uncontested divorce is usually the quickest way to end a marriage, but the time it takes to become final is different from state to state. An Alabama uncontested divorce will take about five to ten weeks for a Final Divorce Decree to be issued by the court.
File for a No-Fault Divorce
Every divorce requires grounds or reasons that a couple no longer wishes to be together. Some grounds may include infidelity, abandonment, or being in an abusive relationship.
However, to help expedite an uncontested divorce, especially if it is amicable, file a no-fault divorce if your state allows them. A no-fault divorce means the marriage is “irretrievably broken,” which is commonly known as “irreconcilable differences.”
It also means that the spouses do not blame each other for the marriage breakdown and they want to part ways as amicably as possible.
Sometimes marriages don’t work out, and there isn’t anyone to blame. If you and your spouse decide a divorce is in both your best interests, then pursue an uncontested divorce if you agree on the terms of settling property, debt, the custody and visitation for any children under the age of 19.
It is the quickest and easiest way to end a marriage without going through a long divorce process. In just a few weeks, depending on where you live, you and your ex-spouse could be living happier, separate lives.
