Protect Yourself With An Understanding Of Divorce Law
Jay Anderson
It is rare that people go from being a happily married couple to being opponents in a divorce court, but if you are considering divorce, it is clearly in your best interests to know how divorce law works and what it can mean for you. Without an understanding of the law, you are relying on word of mouth, which may or may not be accurate and can leave you in a worse situation than you are now if you follow the wrong advice.
First of all, divorce law varies from state to state, so it's up to you to know the laws of your state to get the best outcome possible. One of these areas is in separation of assets. In most cases, it's also usually true that you have to file for divorce in the state in which you currently reside. Therefore, you can't go to another state to file for divorce just because it might have laws that would favor you more.
Next, you need to know what to expect. It is becoming more and more common to have a no-fault divorce, sometimes also referred to as an uncontested divorce. In this type of situation, both spouses agree that a divorce is best for them and there is typically little or no difference of opinion as far as the split of assets that are jointly owned. If there are no kids involved, this is usually the easiest way to do it. In fact with this method, the use of a divorce lawyer may not be necessary, or if it is, their services will be very minimal.
Some states require that you separate for a trial period before you are granted your divorce. This is also sometimes known as "test" divorce. With a separation, the divorcing couple lives apart from each other and does not have any interaction with each other day today. This lets the couple know what it's like not to have his/her spouse around. In many cases, people actually discover that they don't want a divorce during this period, and they're suddenly more willing to work through differences than they were in the past.
If a divorce is deemed to be "at-fault," it's usually that one of the spouses has done something that is a breach of the marital "contract." Some of these things can include cruelty, abandonment, or infidelity. "Cruelty" can be defined as both physical cruelty and emotional or verbal cruelty. In some states, this type of divorce does not require a trial separation first.
In the case where both spouses are guilty of some type of marital contract breech, a principle known as comparison rectitude comes into play, which is designed to determine from the two guilty parties, which one is guiltier. This can sometimes be difficult to prove since more than just word of mouth is required for proof, but the outcome can drastically affect the division of property and assets.
If you are currently facing divorce, make sure you know divorce law and specifically, the divorce laws for your state. It behooves you to know this, because even though your current situation is stressful, the one you'll suddenly facing will be much more so if you don't do your homework. If you do, you least know what to expect and will be prepared for what you face.
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