Divorce and Its Aftermath
Divorce can be a frightening, long, emotional roller-coaster, but for others it may just be nothing, but a relief. Many jokes have been made over the term “the seven-year itch”… for those of you who don’t dabble in psychology, or keep up with trends like why nearly half of the nation’s marriages end up in divorce, this phrase is based on the popular movie by the same name that was released in 1955. The concept of the seven-year itch has been a widely accepted phenomenon that happiness in a relationship declines after around year seven of marriage. After the seventh year of marriage couples tend to fall into a slum, which often leaves them feeling restless and dissatisfied with their marriage.
For some, the dissatisfaction with one’s partner begins long before seven years. It may begin after the first or second child, or a particularly tumultuous year due to a financial hardship. Whatever disagreements crop up, if they are repetitive and volatile, then it is time to take some action, possibly divorce. You might want to consider your options and consult with an attorney who specializes in family law.
What is Divorce?
Divorce is the dissolution of a marriage, the termination of a marriage or marital union, the canceling and reorganizing of the legal duties, thus dissolving the bonds of matrimony between a married couple under the rule of law. Infidelity and financial upheavals are significant causes of divorce, but the major causes are emotional; partners grow emotionally distant, develop separate visions of life, or experience disappointments because of unmet expectations.
Types of Divorce
Fault and No-Fault Divorce
The no-fault divorce acknowledges that both parties contributed to the breakdown of the marriage. A fault divorce is granted when there has been adultery, abandonment for a certain length of time, prison confinement, a spouse physically unable to have sexual intercourse, or inflicting emotional or physical pain.
Uncontested Divorce
An uncontested divorce relies on both spouse working together to finalize the terms. Essentially, the process would involve both filing separate paperwork with the court before going their separate ways.
Arbitration
When a divorcing couple can’t come to an agreement on their own, they may resort to arbitration. A private judge known as an arbitrator weighs both side’ accounts of the facts of the case as a neutral third party and then makes a ruling.
Mediation
This is a common choice for couples. Mediation is similar to arbitration, it involves a third party who listens to the spouses’ sides of the story. Unlike, arbitration, the mediator does not make any decisions for the couple but facilitates communication between them instead so that they can arrive to an agreement.
Collaborative Divorce
A collaborative divorce is another way of resolving contention between a divorcing couple without bringing the court into the picture. This involves both spouses retaining their own legal counsel. Before beginning the process, both spouses sign an agreement state that they will work together to come to an agreement.
Default Divorce
This type of divorce occurs when one spouse files and the other doesn’t respond. This divorce is granted by default.
Summary Divorce
This divorce is intended to streamline the process for the couples who are most likely to be in a position to cooperate, they lack substantial assets, have no children and weren’t married for long. Both spouse usually only need to fill out and file a few forms to complete the process.
Contested Divorce
This divorce involves both spouses retaining separate attorneys and taking contentious issues before the court for the judge to decide.
Though, a simple divorce could be in the cards if minimal assets and no children are involved, more often than not, the division of assets and property must be fair and square and the assistance of a professional, such as a divorce attorney, is brought into the fray to get this accomplished in the most-expedient manner possible. If you need of a consultation with a divorce attorney you should contact a local divorce attorney. Divorce and family attorney will be able to walk you through every step in this complex process.
What Happens in a Divorce?
The necessary steps to obtaining a divorce depends on the particular situation of the parties getting divorced. If there are fighting and disagreements between the couple, over anything and everything, the process of getting divorced will be slow. The first step of divorce is filing a petition. One of them will have to be the one to file the petition with the court asking for the divorce. The petition states the grounds for divorce. If one spouse depends on the other for financial support or will have custody of the children, that spouse needs to ask the court for temporary orders for support and custody. The party who files for divorce also needs to file proof of service of process, which is a document that shows that a copy of the divorce petition was given to the other party. The party who receives service of process will need to file a response to the petition. If the parties don't agree on all the issues, they will needs to try to negotiate their differences. Any issues the parties cannot resolve between themselves will have to be decided in the trial. The order of dissolution ends the marriage and spells out how the property and debts are to be divided, custody, support and any other issues. Once the parties have negotiated their own resolution to all the issues, they will draft the order of dissolution and and submit to the court.
What Comes After Divorce
Just went you think it’s all over, life hands you a reality check. Once the Complaint or Petition for Divorce is filed, the attorneys must get to work to scour any and all bank accounts, retirement plans, or any other tangible assets, same which will be set forth, then details regarding the division of assets (and any custodial support if applicable) will be presented to the judge for approval. The couple who started their lives together with great hope in their heart and and once upon a time shared every detail of their finances, now are each seeking to devise a plan for their own financial gain. A family law attorney is left to sort out the sometimes sordid details, and, in doing so, will seek the most beneficial settlement available for his or her client at the time of the divorce decree, as well as for the future. This settlement is referred to as "alimony".
Alimony is...
People often mistake alimony for child support, but they're completely different. Alimony is defined as payments made to an ex-spouse as part of the divorce settlement, and, child support is money paid to the ex-spouse in conjunction with each minor child that was a byproduct of the marriage. Sometimes, both alimony and child support must be paid to an ex-spouse and there is no cut-and-dried method for determining the amount of money just as there are no identical circumstances for each family.
What Alimony Does
The actual concept of alimony is to protect the spouse who might have been a stay-at-home parent, or forsaken their career to opt to be the primary caretaker of the children. The spouse and primary breadwinner in the family is gone; the judge must ensure that the spouse, who is left behind, without the benefit of a regular paycheck, is able to have their needs met for the lifestyle they have grown accustomed to. This payment schedule that was set in stone by the judge by the divorce decree is money slated for the ex-spouse per the terms agreed upon by each. This decision, often disputed by the opposing spouse, can actually languish in the courts for years, but is actually considered a type of “insurance” until the ex-spouse can get back on their feet. This is referred to as temporary alimony. It is important to note that the alimony payments will stop once the ex-spouse receiving the payments remarries.
Types of Alimony
- Temporary alimony, as alluded to above, may be paid for a period of two years or less.
- Permanent alimony encompasses payments when a couple was married for twenty years or more and will continue until a spouse remarries or passes away.
- Rehabilitative alimony is paid on a temporary basis, and its purpose is to provide financial assistance while the former spouse completes training or education which will serve to make them more employable.
- Reimbursement alimony is paid as a type of remuneration if one spouse made significant financial sacrifices to allow the other spouse to earn a professional degree during the pendency of the marriage, thus reimbursement alimony gives the other spouse the same opportunity to achieve a professional degree.
How Alimony is Determined
Courts have a broad discretion in determining whether to award alimony, and, if so, how much and for how long. The Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act, recommends that the courts consider the following factors:
- the length of the marriage;
- the ability for the payer spouse to still be able to support the other spouse, and himself or herself;
- emotional, physical, and financial state of both spouses;
- the couple's standard living during the marriage; and
- the length of time the spouse receiving the payments will take to complete his or her education, or training to become self-sufficient.