Although a divorce attorney can be helpful, they are not required. Many people opt to handle the divorce on their own or through a neutral third-party mediator. Divorce attorneys are most useful when there are issues in the divorce that are hotly contested by the spouses, such as:
However, if both spouses are willing to work together to negotiate a settlement, then you can probably get away with not using an attorney. If you do have a divorce attorney, you can still save yourself expensive legal fees by creating this agreement yourself and then having your attorney review it, instead of having the attorney draft it for you.
All 50 states now grant divorce based on no-fault grounds. A "no-fault" divorce is a divorce based on the consent of both spouses. The spouses are simply claiming that their marriage is irretrievably broken due to irreconcilable differences. Many states have completely done away with fault-based divorce and now only allow no-fault divorces.
These states are:
If you are filing your case in one of these states, then your agreement will automatically specify that you are seeking a no-fault divorce.
If you are not in one of the states listed above, then you will have the option of specifying whether you want a divorce based on fault or no-fault grounds. If you think that you and your spouse can come to an agreement on the terms of your divorce settlement agreement, then it will be easier for you to request a no-fault divorce. This is because no-fault divorces do not require you to go through the tricky process of trying to prove that one of the spouses is at fault.
However, there are some reasons why a fault-based divorce could be more desirable. For instance, courts may take into account the fault or bad behavior of one of the spouses when determining the following:
Also, note that it is possible for the spouse who is at fault to not contest the grounds for divorce by admitting his or her own fault. Common fault-based grounds for divorce include adultery, abandonment, cruel and inhumane treatment, habitual drunkenness or drug use, and felony conviction.
Most states require that one or both spouses have resided in the state for a certain amount of time before they can file for divorce in that state. The residency requirement is usually six months to a year. However, review this chart if you are unsure of whether you meet the residency requirement in your state.
The final few steps of creating your divorce settlement agreement asks you for court and case information. If you do not know these details, you should contact the Clerk of Court at the family or divorce court for your county. The clerk will be able to tell you the local procedures for filing your petition for divorce and provide the details for the court address, division, and courtroom. If you have not yet filed your divorce petition, it is possible that your case number and judge have not yet been assigned. Alternatively, if you have retained an attorney for your divorce case, then that attorney should be able to provide these details for you.
At the hearing, if the judge finds the divorce settlement agreement fair and there are no other issues to decide, the judge will grant your divorce. If the divorce is contested by one of the spouses or the judge finds the divorce settlement agreement to not be fair, the process may take longer and you may be required to attend multiple hearings.
Again, it is a good idea to contact a family or divorce court administrator, usually the Clerk of Court, to get information on the specific procedures required in your state.
Use our customizable divorce settlement agreement form to create, download, and print your agreement today.