What is the Process of a DIY Divorce? If you or your spouse has lived in Illinois for at least 90 days, you will be able to file for divorce. To do it yourself without a lawyer, you'll need to file a petition for dissolution of marriage at the county courthouse where you live.
The no-fault approach imposes a two-year separate and apart (or six-month) requirement. If you do not meet those requirements but want to expedite the process, you will need to file on other grounds. The quickest way to get a divorce is to make your divorce uncontested. That requires you to agree on every issue.
The name given to the spouse that files first for divorce is the Petitioner and the spouse that files second is called the Respondent. The clearest advantage to filing for divorce first is that at trial the Petitioner gets to present his/her evidence first.
Filing first may prevent your husband from hiding assets. Deplorable as it is, many husbands hide assets during the divorce process. Filing first, particularly if you live in a state which requires an Automatic Temporary Restraining Order (ATRO), may help guard against any underhanded tactics.
Only one spouse can file first. They are referred to as the plaintiff. The other spouse is the defendant. Whether you are the plaintiff of the defendant is not as important as getting a good team together or doing research yourself into the divorce process.
The spouse who has been served with the divorce/dissolution petition is called the "respondent" or "defendant" in the divorce/dissolution process. He or she must respond to ("answer") the petition within a certain time (usually about three weeks).
Considerations to Make About What to Ask for in a Divorce SettlementMarital Home. Life Insurance and Health Insurance Policies. Division of Debt. Private School Tuition and College Tuition. Family Heirlooms and Jewelry. Parenting Time. Retirement Funds.
Thanks to no-fault divorce laws there is no legal way to stop a divorce once the process begins. However, if you and your spouse decide to reconcile, the legal process can be stopped by withdrawing the petition for divorce. This would have to be done by the spouse who filed the original divorce petition.
When one spouse in California files a petition for divorce, the other spouse must be formally served with papers. When a spouse doesn't respond to a divorce petition, the person who failed to file the answer to the court will lose his or her rights to make arguments about property division, support, and child custody.
When a party files a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, they are asking the court to open their case and grant their divorce. As a result, as long as you file a Counter-Petition, your case will not be dismissed even if your spouse decides he or she wants to dismiss your case.
What Happens in a Divorce?Step One: Filing the Divorce Petition. Step Two: Asking for Temporary Orders. Step Three: Serve Your Spouse and Wait for a Response. Step Four: Negotiate a Settlement. Step Five: Divorce Trial. Step Six: Finalizing the Judgment.
A judge will typically only deny an uncontested divorce if there are procedural matters that haven't been done properly, something is unclear or confusing, or something is not in the best interests of the child.
With a hearing, the judge will consider evidence and testimony on one or more aspects of your divorce, perhaps child custody or visitation or temporary alimony, for example. The judge will render a decision on those issues only, removing some of the roadblocks and answering some questions about your divorce.
The judge decides such attorney fee issues in divorce cases by looking at marital lifestyle, income, expenses, liquid assets, the availability of non-liquid assets to be sold, the length of the marriage and complexity of the issues, etc.