Divorce or a marriage ending is always a difficult issue to handle, both legally and mentally. Marriage ending is not at all expected. But in some cases, divorce becomes mandatory when spouses find them unhappy and harmful for each other. But the thing is how a divorce can make the best hassle-free and budget-friendly. An uncontested divorce is a better option in this case. Let’s discuss details about uncontested-divorce in the next section of this article.
What is a Simple Uncontested Divorce?
An uncontested divorce is a type of marital divorce where both spouses are agreed to certain things while deciding to live apart from each other. In such a divorce, couples do not need to go to any lawyer or court for the divorce process. Rather they can just make an agreement explaining all their concerned issues in which they have agreed and submit a court file through a lawyer; that’s it, nothing more.
Generally, in an uncontested divorce, a couple gets agreed to the following things—
- Child support issue, how you and your partner will handle this issue, and how much your financial contribution would be for your children per month
- Parenting orders and responsibilities and in which way you want to share your child custody with your partner after divorce
- Property division and your rights
- Alimony issue, how much and how long you will get your spousal financial support in the future
- Debt division, a list of all debts that you and your partner need to repay
Your divorce settlement agreement must contain all these necessary details so that the judge can easily understand that you and your partner do not have any controversy regarding your separation. If all your explanations are clear enough in the document, the judge will grant your divorce without any delay or contest. And this is the easiest and hassle-free legal separation or divorce procedure so far a couple can have.
Uncontested Divorce vs. Contested Divorce
In most the cases, uncontested-divorce process largely differs from the contested divorce process. Such as,
- In case of an uncontested-divorce, you need not mandatorily step into the courtroom(exception can happen in some cases), but that does not happen in case of a contested divorce. In a contested divorce, you must go to court and go through lots of legal procedures and hearings also.
- No lawyer is needed in an uncontested-divorce, whereas in a contested divorce, a professional lawyer is a must to smoothly handle all the legal things.
- If all your major issues are clear in your divorce settlement agreement, you and your partner can predict that you can get your job done quickly, in an uncontested divorce.
On the contrary, in a contested divorce, you can not predict anything; the entire decision is taken only by the judge. You just can provide necessary documents and proofs, nothing else.
- An uncontested-divorce is an easy and quick process compared to a contested divorce.
- High financial costs and hypertension and stress, all are very common in a contested divorce, while an uncontested divorce is less expensive on one hand and stress-free on the other. Because, in an uncontested divorce, you and your partner have already reached a final conclusion.
- The most important benefit of an uncontested divorce is that you do not need to apply again for your child support, parenting orders, and things like that in the future. But in a contested divorce, it might occur several times and create unexpected hassles.
How to get an Uncontested Divorce
The uncontested divorce process is easier and quicker than the contested divorce process. But uncontested-divorce process varies from state to state. That means, in different states, the process might have a little difference. For example, uncontested-divorce in Canada differs slightly from uncontested-divorce in the US.
Whatever the difference is, here goes an overall instruction on how to get an uncontested-divorce in the shortest possible time.
Agreement on Property and Alimony
In case of any divorce, reaching out in a satisfactory decision about spousal alimony and properties is a must. Alimony contains protection after your divorce, maybe for a certain time or always, through your spousal financial support. When a couple gets divorced, the court orders them to decide their alimony and time so that none of them face lower living standards soon after their separation. So, in an uncontested divorce, you must first come to a decision with your partner that how much and how long you prefer to have your alimony after divorce.
Related Article: Top Reasons for Divorce in Canada
Again properties get equal priority in a divorce process. When you decide to divorce your partner, sit with him or her and discuss all your(both of you) properties because property distribution seems problematic once you are divorced. So, it is better to consult with your partner about how you are going to divide your properties and how many rights you will have on them.
Agreement on Children Issue
Children are major concerns of their parents. Whenever any couple wants to get divorced, they face lots of issues regarding their child custody and parenting order. If you do not decide on your children’s issues before, you might have to file a case in court for child custody and parenting order again. And this is often time-consuming, and mostly these cases might lead your children to go through mental trauma.
You better make decisions and make a parenting outline that includes to whom your children’s custody would be and for how long. You can also make a plan on children’s visitation rights and financial contributions for them.
Agreement on Marital Debts
Similar to your marital property, you must reach an agreement on all your marital debts before an uncontested-divorce. Better make a proper list including all your marital debts that you have and consult with your partner which you want to repay. It’s a very important issue to decide. Because once you get separated, the borrowers might create problems, or they might get confused that to whom they need to demand their loans.
Marital debts do not include your personal debts before marriage. Instead, it comprises all the debts of both of you that you have made during your marriage. Before getting divorced, especially in an uncontested divorce, it is mandatory to decide how you will pay all your marital debts.
Divorce Settlement Agreement
While you and your partner have reached a satisfactory conclusion about all your major issues, make a divorce settlement agreement and explain all your plans there. First, make a draft copy. Attach all the necessary documents and plans to the agreement to support your agreement. If you are confused enough with the agreement writing, take help from any family law center of your state.
You can also hire a lawyer who can best assist you in all your steps. And if you face problems in deciding your issues, both you and your partner should contact a mediator who can explain all the things to you clearly.
One important thing to remember that before submitting the divorce settlement agreement to the court, make some copies of all the documents. Provide at least one copy of all the papers to your partner, and then keep some copies to yourself for further needs. If you hire any lawyer, he might also demand some copies for him.
Filling Out Forms
In order to file your divorce proposal to the court, you might have to fill out some uncontested divorce forms if it is available in your state. Collect those forms from the court, or you might get them online. Carefully fill out all the details and provide all demanded information properly. Again if you or your partner feel that filling out these forms is quite difficult, then make them checked and reviewed by some specialists. Do not make any mistakes or provide any misleading information in the forms.
You might need to fill out the parenting order form separately. If yes, then make sure that you have filled it properly. The more clearly and accurately you will fill out the forms, the court will decide and grant your divorce more quickly.
Submission in the Court
Now submit all your papers and forms in the court, either through the court clerk or the lawyer. Try to file the case in the right court. Right court means the court of the state where your children live. It might be your state court or your spouse’s state court. Because, in a divorce case, the children are the most sufferers. They are going to lose their happiness to live with both of their parents together. Moreover, they might also appear in court sometimes. So, it is better to deal with all the things from a place that is near to them.
Again residency issue might be there. So, take all the necessary issues into consideration and then make the final decision.
Conclusion
Finally, you have learned almost all the necessary tips for an uncontested-divorce and also about the differences between an uncontested-divorce and a contested divorce. If you are planning to make a separation or divorce without any legal hassles, you can choose the uncontested divorce process then. You just follow the above instructions and hopefully will get your divorce as quickly as possible.
