Divorce Laws

Divorce laws vary from state to state. Some states have no-fault divorce laws and some do not. All states have uncontested divorces, but if your state has separation and counseling laws, you must still go through those processes. Divorce laws can also vary from county to county, for example Hillsborough County, Florida requires mediation, but Pinellas County, Florida does not require the parties to attend mediation.

The Facts

Regardless of the state you are in, when you go through a divorce, you must divide assets and liabilities. You must also determine custody and visitation with any minor children and pay child support, if there are minor children. Alimony rules also vary from state to state, and depending on the circumstances, one spouse may have to pay alimony.

Significance

Divorce laws are in place to help a couple who cannot make their own decisions separate their lives and move on. When two people get a divorce, their standard of living will go down. If you are a two-income family, you will have to learn to live on a single income. If you were a one-income family where only one spouse was the bread winner, your standard of living will also go down, as the working spouse may have to provide for you, but also has to provide for herself, leaving less money to spend on each individual household.

Types

There are two types of divorce--contested and uncontested. Even if you and your spouse agree on most points, if you disagree on even one, such as child custody, the divorce is still contested. If you live in a state with no-fault laws, in most circumstances, the court cannot stop you from getting a divorce whether your spouse wants a divorce or not. In no-fault divorces, the court does not look at the reasons you are getting divorced, and most reasons cannot be applied as reasons for awarding one spouse more money than the other spouse. The court also cannot award alimony "just because" one spouse did something where the other spouse considers him wronged.

Time Frame

There are many different time frames within divorce laws. Some states require a mandatory separation period of a certain time before they will allow a divorce to go through the court system. All states have a set amount of time for the respondent to answer the petition once the petition is served on the respondent. There are also time frames for filing financial affidavits, mandatory disclosure, setting and holding mediation if mediation is required by your state, and time frames for responding to certain motions and pleadings. If one spouse is not playing by the rules, the court may order a time frame to complete its request. For example, if one spouse has not turned in her mandatory disclosure and the other spouse files a motion for contempt with the court, the court may order the non-complying spouse to submit mandatory disclosure within a certain amount of days or face contempt charges.

Considerations

When getting divorced, be sure that all joint accounts are closed and all liabilities are paid. Even though the final judgment states that your spouse is responsible for a liability, if she defaults on that liability, the company will still hold you liable for that liability. The only way to get out of a liability is to use marital assets to pay off liabilities, then split what assets are left. Each person should open new credit accounts in their own names. If there is a mortgage, the person who retains the house and mortgage should refinance the mortgage within 30 days from the entry of the final judgment, so that if the spouse keeping the home and mortgage defaults, the other spouse will not be held liable for the default.