LegalAce can take the headache out of preparing your divorce documents.
Getting married is easy. Getting divorced is not. Not only do you have to deal with the emotional turmoil that accompanies the end of a relationship, figure out how you're going to split up your property, and deal with child issues, but you also have to either become an expert in the legal system or pay a fortune to an attorney. Lawyers are aware of how seemingly overwhelming it can be for the average person to get a divorce and have made millions capitalizing on it.
Now, with the help of Legal Ace and its patent pending process, most people with uncontested matters can easily obtain a divorce without having to pay an arm and a leg to an attorney and often without even having to appear before a judge.
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All About Divorce
LegalACE education center provides you with the information and resources you need when
considering a Divorce. The Divorce Guide provides general information about Divorce , and the FAQs answer some of the most common questions people ask. This information
allows you to make informed decisions.
If you are facing a divorce or the breakup of your marriage, first let us say that we're sorry. Our goal here at LegalACE is to make the process as smooth as possible. That's why we offer legal document preparation services to those seeking uncontested divorces, enabling you to:
Avoid hiring an attorney;
Greatly reduce the cost of your divorce;
Prepare the paperwork online from the comfort of your home; and
LegalACE can only help you if your divorce is uncontested. What exactly does that mean? An uncontested divorce is one in which you and your partner agree on the details of the split. Here are the main areas about which you need to be in agreement:
LegalACE offers legal document preparation for divorce whether you have children or now. The divorce process becomes more complicated when you have children, because of the many critical decisions you and your partner must make as parents regarding the welfare of your children. They include:
Who will get primary custody?
What will be the visitation rights of the other parent?
Where will the children live?
Will you or your partner pay child support? And if so, how much?
Again, you must be in agreement on these issues in order for LegalACE to handle your divorce.
State laws vary widely when it comes to divorce. Here are a few of the areas in which states differ in their philosophies. Most states do not require you or your partner to be found at fault; those are called "no fault" divorce states. There are, however, still several states that establish one or the other partner to be at fault during the divorce process - "at fault" states.
When you are unable to locate your spouse, some states will permit you to divorce him or her, but they require you to go through what's called "publication," a process whereby you "serve" your spouse through a notice in a local newspaper.
LegalACE addresses each of these differences through its online questionnaires, adapted to each state's requirements.
Each state and jurisdiction has a unique set of circumstances - or grounds - under which a divorce may be granted by the court. When you file your Petition for Dissolution of Marriage (Divorce), you will be asked to declare grounds, and the judge in your jurisdiction will need to hear that one of your state's acceptable grounds has been met.
Here is a list of grounds that many states accept:
Adultery
Incompatibility
Irreconcilable differences
Breakdown of Marriage
Abandonment
Drug or Alcohol Abuse
Imprisonment
Sexual or Physical Abuse
Both husband and wife agree to the dissolution of the marriage.
Husband and wife have been estranged for more than two years.
Once you have determined that you qualify for an uncontested divorce and that LegalACE can serve you, you will need to organize your legal and financial paperwork before you begin the process. You will need documentation on the following information:
What exactly will happen with all of your property and debts in a divorce depends largely on what state you live in. There are basically two systems that states follow when dealing with property in a marriage: Community property and equitable distribution.
The first is called community property. In community property states, anything that was gained during the marriage is divided evenly in a divorce. In other words, each spouse gets 50% of the property and debts.
The alternative is equitable distribution. In an equitable distribution state, each spouse gets property and debts in a manner that is fair. Fair might, but does not necessarily, mean equal. For example, imagine a scenario where one spouse goes to college full time and does not work. The other works overtime to support the first spouse. The spouse that went to school may get less in the divorce because the second spouse contributed more by supporting the first spouse through college.
Courts will generally want to enter orders that reflect the best interests of the children. Most often this means that each parent will have the ability to visit or spend time with the children. In some scenarios one of the parents has shown violent or harmful tendencies towards the children. In such cases, the judge may require that the parent be supervised when he or she sees them or may prevent the parent from seeing the children altogether.
Generally, yes. Unless the person to whom the debt was owed (your creditor) was a party to the case, you will still be responsible for ensuring that the payments are made to the creditor. If you pay the debt because your spouse isn't paying, you can demand and/or sue for reimbursement for the payments from your spouse.
Although pets are frequently thought of as being a part of the family, the courts don't treat them that way. In our legal system pets are treated as property that will be divided up along with all of your other assets.
This one really varies. Some states require that you appear before a judge even in uncontested divorces. Others don't want you to waste the court's time if you and your spouse are in agreement. You'll have to check your court's local procedure or the statutes governing family law in your state. In any case, if you and your spouse are in agreement, the chances that you will have to go to court, or if you do, the chances that you'll spend very long in court, are reduced significantly.
Generally, courts view each spouse in a divorce case as being a different party. One spouse files a petition, or complaint, and the other spouse must respond. If the responding spouse doesn't say anything, the first spouse may get whatever is asked for by attending a “default hearing”. In a default hearing, the petitioner goes to the judge and says that he or she has told the spouse about the pending divorce case and the spouse has not done anything. That person then requests the judge grant the divorce. If the judge thinks everything looks okay, the divorce will be granted.
The other option for an uncontested case is that after the petitioner files the initial court forms, the petitioner's spouse files documents agreeing with the divorce. The court will review the submissions and, if everything looks okay, the divorce will be granted.
Sounds like pretty much the same thing, right? Well it isn't necessarily. Although the result is generally the same, there are usually a few important differences. Consider the following:
Advantages of orders by agreement: The responding spouse has a say in what is ordered. Some jurisdictions will waive the waiting period that spouses must wait before the divorce is granted. Some jurisdictions will waive the requirement that you must appear in court before the judge. Generally, judges are less likely to deny terms in a divorce where spouses agree than when only one spouse is requesting the order.
Disadvantages of orders by agreement: Most jurisdictions will charge an additional filing fee, thus, often doubling the cost of the divorce.
Advantages of default orders: Only one spouse has to do anything. Generally, the couple needs to pay only one court filing fee.
Disadvantages of default orders: Most jurisdictions will require that the petitioner appear in court, even if they might not otherwise need to. The respondent doesn't technically have any say in what's in the order.
Every state is a little different, so you'll want to check with your court before making a decision. Some of the above may not apply for your area.
All states have child support guidelines which outline a formula by which child support must be calculated. Generally speaking, the formula determines how much parents would be making if they still lived together. It then cross references that amount with the amount of time each parent is spending with the child. The theory is that the child should be provided with roughly the same lifestyle as he or she would have had had the parents remained together. The formula attempts to do that by distributing money to where the child will be.
Most courts expect that the child support guidelines be used. Judges usually have the authority to order a different amount in child support than what the formula dictates, but only if the judge is presented with a good reason for the deviation.
Generally courts want to see that residency requirements are met, the waiting period has passed (most states require that you wait a certain amount of time before a divorce can be granted), there are sufficient legal grounds for the divorce, that both spouses are being treated fairly with regards to property, debt, child support and child visitation rights, and that the best interests of any children are being served.
Alimony is generally only ordered in scenarios where a spouse will face a significant hardship without financial help or when the couple has been married for a long time and the sudden loss of income would create a significant change in lifestyle. If both parties will be able to support themselves, the marriage was not too long, and both are in agreement that alimony is not appropriate, judges generally shy away from ordering alimony.
Most legislatures want to discourage the break up of families. Accordingly before getting a divorce, you must generally wait a certain amount of time. The legislature believes that by imposing this requirement, couples will not just get divorced because of a petty argument that might smooth over in a few weeks. The hope is that you and your spouse will reconcile and cancel the divorce.
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