What is a Consent Decree?
The Court enters a consent decree when all parties have agreed on how to resolve everything required for a divorce, legal separation or annulment. You must agree in writing to issues such as division of property and debt, spousal maintenance (if any), child custody, visitation, and support (if you have children). All parties must sign the written decree. The Respondent still must be served with the petition (or the Respondent must sign an Acceptance of Service or Waiver of Service). The signed consent decree and other required paperwork cannot be submitted to the court until at least 64 days have passed after the date the Respondent was served with the divorce papers. Make sure your documents are completed correctly before presenting them to the court. If they are not completed correctly, the Court will not be able to sign the documents.
