Do you have to go to court to divorce?

[poptart84]

I'm sure everywhere is different but my good friend filed, no kids, no house to split and it was signed by the judge, they didn't have a court date. I had to go, (i was the petioner) because we have a child.

[daisyn]

We used a mediator and did not go to court. (We have a child)

[pinkdutchtulips]

No ... There are ways around it - mediation, just submit papers for the judge to sign ...

[jellymankelly]

My XH went to court for ours but he didn't need to, necessarily. I had an attorney (he didn't) and my attorney filed everything and went to court for me. That was probably the easiest part of the whole process.

[glitzyglow]

We did not. We met with my lawyer in his office where my exH and I signed off on everything (my exH did not have an attorney). I never stepped foot in a courtroom. My lawyer met with the judge who signed off and everything was filed. I received the official documentation of divorce about 2 weeks later.

[cuddlyevil]

We won't. We're doing a dissolution and our attorney does it over the phone.

[1confused1]

I did. Many many times. My divorce was highly contested.

If you do have to go, it's not like what you see on TV. In the courtroom I was in, everyone who is on the calendar that day sits in seats and then the case that is being heard goes up to the tables in front of the judge. I've never had to take the stand, but the judge has asked me questions which I answered from the table where I was sitting.

[MyName]

Nope. XH and I had no shared accounts, no property, no kids, etc. I hired a paralegal service to do the paperwork for an uncontested divorce (NY), and we just had to sign/notarize a couple things. The service did all the filing.

[tevagirl]

We had two hearings in front of a judge, the first judge recused himself because he knew me when I was a kid. XH didn't come the second time, which worked out well for me. We also had a separate congested hearing for child support. I didn't have an attorney and a friend came with me all three times.

[Deleted]

I did not. I met with a judge by myself (my XH had already moved out of state at that point and it wasn't necessary for him to be there since he'd already signed the papers). It was technically at a courthouse, but there was no trial or jury or any of the stuff you'd normally think of when you think of "going to court".

It took like 15 minutes at that point. Easy peasy.

[flatlan]

We will not. It is uncontested with no children. We will have our settlement agreement signed ahead of time and when our 60 day waiting period is up, the lawyer will take it for the judge to sign.

[bg]

Uncontested and our lawyers are going to handle all of the court stuff.

[boing]

I did not. We had shared debts and owned a home and managed to settle outside of court. I got hosed financially, but at least it was over quickly and with no drama!

[gault]

Look at We The People. They can help you file and you don't have to go to court. It's much cheaper than a lawyer. And easy.

[alleinesein]

It depends on your state. The only time I stepped foot in the courthouse was to file and to drop off the separation agreement and the rest of the paperwork (default judgement, etc). CA did assign me a court date in case an agreement was not filed with the court; once the paperwork was submitted the court date was canceled.

[bl]

I think it depends highly on your state. We had a very easy uncontested divorce. I filed and the attorney drew up all the paperwork, had it signed by exh as uncontested, and then attorney filed it with the court and got us a date. Exh did not have to appear in court because his signature was sufficient. I had to appear as the petitioner. I didn't have to get on a stand or anything, just answered 3-4 yes or no questions, the judge said granted and I walked out all in under 5 min.

[verycontrary247]

Nope

Another no kids, uncontested divorce here. My lawyer presented them to a judge for me.

[sandytoes]

No, we did not. Him and I agreed on everything. I then went to my lawyer, she drew up the papers and sent them to him (he didn't get a lawyer). He had to go to her office once or twice to sign something. We were never in the same room together. I'm in PA and we have two children.

[glynn]

The 1st time I was in court so many times I can't remember. I took over a year and we fought about everything. This time I am hoping not to. Had mediation already with only a custody agreement signed so far.

[jojoandleo]

Every state is different. This is a question for an attorney. Sorry.

[doglove]

Have you spoken with an attorney? That's your best route.

[somersault72]

Ha, I thought you always had to go. My ex and I had a dissolution (and a kid), but we also had no attorneys because we agreed on everything. We had to go in front of a magistrate.

[Deleted]

No, ours was amicable with no kids, we created our own settlement and had an attorney handle all the paperwork.

[formerlyak]

We were able to agree on everything - no property, but one kid. We hired a paralegal who was able to draw up papers for us based on what we agreed to. She filed them with the court and a judge signed off on them. No appearance in court.

[llh0211]

Definitely depends on your state & county. I filed in a county that I didn't live in, but that you didn't have to go to court. Our divorce was pretty simple. No kids. No house. Just paid to break us up.

[Serenity9]

As contentious as Ex-H and I were with each other, the terms of the divorce itself were all arranged and agreed-to before we filed.

But we still had to go for a court date in our state. We just had to show up, each of us had to sit in a chair and our own attorneys asked us a string of very basic questions. Then it was over.

[prettyinpearls]

Yes, but it was super easy. We hashed out everything with my attorney (XH didn't have one) and both signed a final judgment that was to be filed. We got a court date for the judge to review & sign; I went with my attorney and all I had to do was answer a few questions under oath (Has the marriage broken down past the point of reconcile? Is that your husband's signature? Is that your signature? etc) and that was it. Judge signed the judgment and I was divorced. XH did not have to be present.

I'm in MI if that helps any.

[MauMau]

I had to go twice. It was frustrating. I was in a big city and there were lots of cases in the courtroom. So a lot of waiting and it's not private.

I don't think I would of had to go at all. But my ex was an asshole and felt he could take everything when we split because he "paid" for it. So it was a long year.

[LoveBug]

Nov 16, 2015 20:12:19 GMT -5 daisyn said:

We used a mediator and did not go to court. (We have a child)

+1