UNCONTESTED DIVORCES

What Exactly is an Uncontested Divorce?

If you are facing a divorce it is likely one of the most stressful and difficult times of your life. Our firm believes that each and every divorce is different and Porter Law Firm believes in creating a customized legal divorce plan that is focused on your needs. In general, divorces fall into two categories: Uncontested and Contested Divorces. This post is intended to help you understand the basics of an Uncontested Divorce.

Uncontested divorces require that both you and your spouse agree on all terms of your divorce. This generally occurs when the divorce is simple and straight-forward. If you are facing a divorce and think that the divorce is uncontested, I would ask myself the following questions:

Do my spouse and I agree on how we split custody for our children (if any)?

Do we agree on a Child Support amount?

Did we base the monthly child support award on the Office of Recovery Services, Child Support Calculator?

Do my Spouse and I agree upon an award of alimony (if any)?

Have we divided/or agree upon how to divide personal property?

Have we divided/or agree upon how to divide our bank accounts and/or investments?

Are any of the answers to the above questions tenuous or subject to change?

If you can answer these questions, then an uncontested divorce may be right for you. One of the major benefits of an uncontested divorce is that it is a lot less expensive and generally a much faster process. By hiring an attorney to handle an uncontested divorce, both you and your spouse can save a lot of money. So, if you and your spouse are an agreement on everything regarding your divorce, this is the right option for you.

Once you have decided that a divorce is uncontested, what's next? The first step would be to put your agreement with your spouse into writing. Make sure that it answers the questions discussed above and that both you and your spouse agree on all of its contents. Once it is in a written format (it doesn’t have to be complete, bullet points or a basic overview is fine) you would take your agreement to an attorney, who would turn your agreement into a valid legal document that can be filed with the court. The divorce will not be completed when the agreement is finalized and filed with the court, but it is a good first step.

The next step is to file the initial divorce documents, and serve them on your spouse, Utah law requires that once your spouse is served, that a 30-day waiting period must elapse prior to a divorce decree being entered. After the waiting period, your attorney would then prepare other documents (including a Divorce Decree) that are needed to finalize the divorce. If children are involved, this would mean providing verification of income from both parties, and proof that you and your spouse completed the required divorce education courses. Once the decree is signed by the judge, your divorce is complete.

I hope this post has been helpful for you in understanding what is meant by an uncontested divorce. This is a high-level overview of how uncontested divorces work in Utah. Actually, there are a lot of documents and information that must be properly filed with the court and handled with care. It is important to hire an attorney that understands the process and can help you with your uncontested divorce. Porter Law Firm is here to help answer any questions you may have regarding divorce and happy to help with your situation.