Family Law

Simply put - a divorce or dissolution is the legal process to end a marriage.

The court order that terminates the marriage must divide the assets and debts of the marriage, determine  whether spousal support will be paid, and if there are minor children determine parental rights.

Unfortunately, it's not as simple as moving out after you separate. Without that court order, you're still tied together!

What is a Divorce?

In order to get an order terminating a marriage, the parties must file with their local county domestic relations court to open a case.

When the two spouses cannot reach an agreement on all the issues that must be resolved in a termination of marriage order, the only way to open the court case is to file a Complaint for Divorce.

A divorce case can accurately be described as a lawsuit. The person filings the complaint is saying "I want to terminate my marriage, but we have things tying us together and we can't agree on how to split them". Often, when the other spouse is notified of the lawsuit, they will respond by filing their own countersuit - they also want the marriage to end, and agree that they cannot agree, so they are also asking the court to weigh in.

What follows is a long legal process involving hearings, temporary orders, exchange of information and documents, and, hopefully, settlement negotiations.

Ultimately, if settlement talks fail and the parties still cannot agree on terms, the court will hold a divorce trial - where both sides have the chance to submit evidence and testimony on why the court should decide the issues a certain way - and then the judge will issue a written court order deciding all the issues for the parties. Trials rarely make either side happy; it is far more effective to negotiate a settlement!

What is a Dissolution?

Just like in a divorce, a dissolution is a court order terminating a marriage, issued by a domestic relations judge in the county court.

The key difference is that in a dissolution, the parties have reached a complete agreement on all the issues covered in a termination of marriage order. All asset and debt divisions have been determined, spousal support and tax issues have been resolved, and if there are minor children all aspects of parental rights, parenting time, and child support have been written down in an agreed parenting order.

Instead of a complaint, a dissolution is started by a joint filing called a Petition for Dissolution. Everything has been signed by both parties. The court reviews the agreement (and other documents), and if they are accepted one hearing will be scheduled for the parties to give testimony proving they are in agreement.

At the end of that one and only hearing, the court grants the petition and the marriage is terminated. Certainly easier, faster and cheaper than a full-blown divorce!