THE FOLLOWING IS A BASIC OUTLINE OF THE DIVORCE PROCESS.
Petitions Filed and Served:
One spouse contacts a lawyer, who prepares a Petition for Dissolution (or complaint), the legal document that sets out the facts necessary for the divorce to be granted and outlines the relief sought.
The petition is filed with the court in the county in which at least one of the parties lives and served on the other spouse. The Complaint (Petition) is served with a summons that requires the served spouse's response.
The served spouse must respond within thirty (30) days, the time limit prescribed or it will be assumed that he or she does not contest the petition.
The response, or answer, must set forth the relief that the answering spouse requests.
Discovery:
A formal process through which the spouses provide requested information to each other through their attorneys. Generally the information includes a Comprehensive Financial Statement, Interogatories (written questions), and a Notice to Produce certain documents and other information regarding the assets of each party.
The information exchanged through discovery is relevant in deciding the issues in the divorce such as property division, spousal support and child support.
Settlement:
The parties may attempt to reach a settlement based on full disclosure of all relevant information. The settlement process can be initiated voluntarily, facilitated by the parties' lawyers or a neutral third party, such as a mediator.
Once a settlement is reached, the parties sign a written agreement setting out the terms of the settlement. The written, signed agreement is submitted to the court at a hearing, called a Prove-up.
Prove-up:
The Petitioner (party who filed the Petition for Dissolution), under oath, is asked a series of questions by his/her attorney. The answers to these questions prove the Grounds for Divorce, the Jurisdiction of the Court and the terms of the settlement. The other party may or may not be present for the prove-up. The judge may ask both parties a few basic factual questions and whether they understand and freely entered into the agreement.
Judgment:
If the judge approves the agreement, he or she issues a divorce judgment that incorporates the settlement agreement(s) the parties have entered into.
Trial
If the parties have been unable to reach an agreement, the case will go to trial.
At trial, each of the attorneys present the evidence and arguments for their side, and the judge decides the unresolved issues. Those may include child custody and visitation, child and spousal support and property division. Once the Judge has decided all of the unresolved issues a judgment of dissolution is entered.
How Long Does The Process Take?
The entire process can take from as little as a few months to as long as several years. The main determinant of how smoothly the process will go is the level of cooperation between the parties and their willingness to compromise.
How Much Will it Cost?
The cost of a divorce is directly tied to how long it takes and how complicated your particular situation might be. As in anything else, the simpler it is the less it will cost. If you and your spouse are truly in agreement on every single issue a divorce can be achieved pretty economically. If, however, you and your spouse are unable to agree on anything your divorce will be more expensive. Unfortunately, if one party is willing to compromise and be reasonable and the other party is not, the unreasonable party can run up the cost of the divorce for both parties.