Featured Article

A marriage can be legally ended by a divorce or a dissolution. A dissolution action must be preceded by a written separation agreement by the husband and wife that settles the issues of custody of the children, visitation rights, and disposition of the assets and liabilities of the parties. A divorce involves the filing of a written complaint where the parties are not in agreement as to all issues.

DISSOLUTION

A married couple may dissolve their marriage by filing a Petition with the Court provided a Separation Agreement is attached thereto. The Separation Agreement must contain a division of all of the property, an agreement as to allocation of parental responsibility, child support, and spousal support, if applicable. An executed Separation Agreement attached to the Petition is required before the Petition can be filed with the Court. Once the Petition for Dissolution is filed, the final hearing will be scheduled within 30 to 90 days thereafter. The parties must have lived apart for at least 30 days prior to the final hearing. The matter must be heard within 90 days or the court will be compelled to dismiss the case. At the final hearing the judge will ask each party if the Separation Agreement which was filed with the Petition for Dissolution conforms to their intent. If either party states that the agreement is unsatisfactory, the judge will dismiss the petition and the action will have to be initiated again once a new agreement is reached. Alternatively, a divorce action can be initiated if the parties cannot agree and want the matter to be decided by the Court.

DIVORCE

By contrast, a divorce action is an adversary proceeding where the parties cannot agree upon all issues. The following information concerns the procedures involved in a divorce. First, the law requires that child support payments be withheld from the wages of the obligor by his or her employer. If the obligor is unemployed, there are special provisions to secure child support payments that deal with workman's compensation, financial bank accounts and the posting of a bond with the court. Second, in the event support payments are not being made by the father for the benefit of the minor children, the Court demands that an affidavit be filed with the County Prosecutor's Office, before the Court will allow the Judgment Entry of Divorce to be filed. Finally, if there are no children or all children are over 14 years of age, your case may be docketed for final hearing 42 days after your spouse is served with a summons and a copy of the Complaint. If your spouse files an Answer contesting the action, the case may not be scheduled for the final hearing until all parties are in agreement, the final entry approved, and signed by each spouse's attorney. A contested case will be scheduled for final hearing by the Assignment Commissioner's Office, approximately 6 to 9 months after the initial Complaint was filed.