How does the divorce process start?
The divorce process can involve up to three separate elements: • The divorce itself – ie the ending of the marriage. • Agreement on the financial arrangements, such as how the assets will be divided and whether any maintenance will be payable. • Agreement on the arrangements for looking after any dependent children.At the first meeting, your solicitor is required by a code called the Family Law Protocol to consider a number of issues, and may need to discuss some of them with you. These include the prospects of reconciliation, possible referral to a family dispute resolution service, whether there is a danger of children being taken abroad, the possibility that there has been abuse, whether there is a need to limit access to joint bank accounts and credit cards, the need to register rights of occupation of the family home at the Land Registry, and many more.
The divorce process begins with the filing of a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage with the family law court. The Petition outlines, in general terms, what the filing spouse seeks to obtain from the other spouse. Once the non-filing spouse is served with the Petition, the marital estate is terminated from that point forward and no additional community property and/or debt is created. A response is then filed by the other spouse outlining their position.
One spouse, called the Petitioner, files a document called a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage (along with several other documents) with the Clerk of the Court in his or her county of residence. The other spouse, called the Respondent is then served with the Petition and the other documents. If the Respondent does not agree with what the Petitioner is requesting in the Petition, the Respondent must file a Response no later than 20 days (30 days if served out of state) after he or she was served with the documents.
In mediation we meet together in a number of sessions until we have resolved all issues. We tackle the issues one at a time by gathering information, identifying conflict and brainstorming options to resolve the differences. The more creative you can be, the better your chances of finding a solution that satisfies both of you. The culmination of mediation is usually a signed separation agreement. Before the agreement is signed you should both have it reviewed by separate attorneys. Even though your mediator may be a lawyer, he or she is not acting as an attorney for either one of you. And even though the mediator may give you legal information during the course of mediation that is not the same as being given your legal rights. It is important for you to know those rights before you sign a separation agreement. This protects against either one of you trying to have the agreement set aside in the future because you did not know your rights. There are many lawyers who act as review attor
