Question: What is divorce?

Answer: Divorce is a legal action to end a marriage. A final judgement of divorce discribes the issues of property division, maintenance (financial support for a spouse), custody and placement of children, child support, and other important issues.

Question: What is the difference between divorce, legal separation?

Answer: A legal separation leaves the parties married for purposes of group health benefits but genuinely attorney's severs the parties' relationships in terms of liabilities. A divorce severs all of the legal relationship between the parties.

Question: How long does a divorce take?

Answer: By statute there is a 120 day wait period from the date of service of the petition until the divorce may be heard. A divorce will generally be scheduled the next month after the 120 day wait period.

Question: What is the nature of a divorce?

Answer: Divorce is an emotional process that affects all aspects of the parties life. Children are frequently caught in the middle most. Divorces end with agreements instead of court trials, but many couples experience months of emotional upset and conflict before the agreement is signed.

Question: What is the procedure?

Answer: Each divorce differs in the amount of lawyer and court involvement, time, cost and conflict between the spouses. Each temporary and final issue in a divorce case can be resolved either by:
1) the husband and wife reaching an agreement the court approves; or 2) having a contested hearing before a judge or court commissioner who makes a decision.

Question: What legal documents need to be filed?

Answer: Legal documents must be drafted and filed for a divorce, include the Initial Petition, Confidential Petition Addendum, Financial Disclosure Statement, Marital Settlement Agreement, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Judgement of Divorce and Vital Statistics Certificate.

Question: What are some of the rules I should follow during and after my divorce?

Answer: 1. Live by all court Orders. 2. Make payments on debts as ordered. 3. If you are making alimoney and support payments, pay promptly and as ordered. If you genuinely are unable to abide by a Court Order as to payments to be made, advise your spouse and contact us. Do Not take it upon yourself to change the Court Order. 4. If a change of in circumtances occurs such as lay-offs or a substantial reduction in pay, an accident, emergency, medical or dental problems, or matters of this nature, advise your spouse and contact us since we want to know your entire problem in order to render the most efficient service. 5. Do not quarrel or argue with your spouse. A discussion of problems is healthy. 6. Do not cohabit with your spouse after the divorce action is commenced in as much as this will be construed by the Court as forgiveness of your complaints and may result in the divorce action being dismissed. 7. If you believe there is a chance of reconciliation or if there is an agreement between the two of you to attempt a reconciliation, please contact us immediately so that we may have the Court enter an Order suspending the action for up to 90 days without prejudice to the action. If the reconciliation does not, in fact, work out; and your action may then proceed without prjudice. If the reconciliation does, in fact, work out; the action can be dismissed at any time. If the action is not suspended by the Court and the two of you attempt to effect a reconciliation without the protection of a Court order and it does not work out, the action is dismissed and is not capable of proceeding, as an unauthorized reconciliation will be deemed to have forgiven your spouse for all past wrong doing and entirely new grounds for divorce will have to be used. If there is any question concerning this please call us promptly so that an adequate explanation can be given. 8. Because your conduct during the pendency of the divorce may be used as grounds for divorce, you should not intimately associate yourself with anyone of the opposite sex in the presence of your children during the pendency of the divorce and you should conduct yourself properly as a married person during this entire period. If you have custody of children, your improper association or conduct might wee affect your right to custody under the present state of the law. 9. Do not discuss your problems with persons other than your attorney although they may be inquisitive. Their advice is without proper training in the field or as a result of bad information, or at best as a result of their own experiences which may be substantially different from the facts in your case. 10. Please promptly inform your attorney of changes of phone numbers, addresses, or employment status. Inform the Clerk of Court, Courthouse of address change by letter using your case number. 11. Maintain a daly jurnal of matters said and done relevant to thes proceedings for future reference. 12. You will have questions that need answering. Write them down and call your attoney for anwsers. Most questions can be anwered by the legal assistant staffing your file. If the legal assistant cannot answer your questions be assured he/she will as your attorney and the legal assistant or attorney will call you back. 13. This information is not intended to give you all the information concerning your divorce nor should it be an exact blueprint for you case. Each case is different and your attorney will know all about your case and you as they proceed. 14. This is a most difficult time for you and your attorney and staff are here to help you in any reasonable way possible. These hints are designed to better acquaint you with the problems which may arise and to answer some of your questions. 15. The rules and policies of our Court are changing constantly in tempo with the times. You will be informed of the policies and rules that affect your particular problem(s).

Question: What rules should I follow if there are children involved with my divorce?

Answer: 1. Live by all court orders 2. Have the children ready and appropriately attired for visitation before the hours of visitation if you have custody. 3. Do not alienate the children from the opposite spouse. Children want to love both parents. 4. Do not present obstacles to visitation because payments are not being made on a timely basis. You have neither the legal authority nor the moral right to change the order of the Court. Contact your attorney for the requisite pleadings to bring this matter to the attention of the court. 5. Do not stop paying as ordered by the Court because you are having problems concerning visitation. Consult your attorney to have this remedied.