What to expect in court for DIY Divorce

[explorer2001]

Have your paperwork in order. Make sure you have all of the copies that you need. Stay strong and professional. Dress appropriately for court.

I diyed my divorce because there wasn't much room for argument by that point. ExH had moved out but left a lit of his stuff behind. I had enough tax law experience to read the divorce code and just follow the steps. He didn't have room to argue because so much was separate proper from before the marriage.

Good luck.

[prettyinpearls]

Will your (mutually agreed upon) judgment already be signed by both you and your XH and you just have present it to a judge for signature? Not sure how it works in your state, but all I had to do in court was testify that 1) yes, that was my signature 2) yes, that was my XH’s signature and 3) yes, I still wanted a divorce. The judge signed my judgment and I was on my way.

[doriswe]

Sept 24, 2012 15:14:00 GMT -5 prettyinpearls said:

but all I had to do in court was testify that 1) yes, that was my signature 2) yes, that was my XH’s signature and 3) yes, I still wanted a divorce. The judge signed my judgment and I was on my way.

That was my experience as well....just had to verify the information and that the marriage was irrevocably broken.

[sawyerthedestroyer]

Sept 24, 2012 15:28:52 GMT -5 doriswe said:

Sept 24, 2012 15:14:00 GMT -5 prettyinpearls said:

but all I had to do in court was testify that 1) yes, that was my signature 2) yes, that was my XH’s signature and 3) yes, I still wanted a divorce. The judge signed my judgment and I was on my way.

That was my experience as well....just had to verify the information and that the marriage was irrevocably broken.

Yep. I printed off the Simple Dissolution of Marriage paperwork from the county clerk of court's web site. XH and I went to a notary, signed the paperwork, then went to the courthouse, paid the $300-something fee, and filed the paperwork. They gave us a date and time to return to swear before a judge that the marriage was irrevocably broken.

We returned to the court on that date, went into a conference-type room (not a court room like they show on TV), swore that everything in the paperwork was accurate, blahblahblah, I specified that I wanted to change my last name back to my maiden name, judge signed the paperwork. We had to wait a bit for them to make copies of the divorce decree, then we both went on our merry ways.

This was Florida, I'm sure this process varies by state.