What Is An Uncontested Divorce?

Uncontested Divorce: Still a divorce, just slightly more pleasant.

How does a divorce conclude? In other words, once a dissolution of marriage case is filed by the Petitioner, how does the case come to an end? Generally speaking, a divorce case wraps up in one of two ways - the parties reach a settlement on all aspects of their divorce or, alternatively, the parties never reach an agreement, their case goes to trial, and a Judge resolves the issues after hearing evidence from each party.

In a contested, traditional divorce case, there is little coordination between the parties as to how the case will be resolved. One spouse hires an attorney, files the divorce, and has the other spouse served. Generally, once served, that spouse goes out an hires their own attorney. From there, the parties exchange information - appraisals, bank statements, retirement account details, the balances owed on any outstanding debts, and a plethora of other things. The goal of this exchange of documents is to uncover all the assets and debts in question, so as to assist the parties in reaching a quick settlement. Does this often happen? Hardly, no, the exchange of documents is but a mere first step in the long, brutal process of a contested divorce.

This article is not about contested divorce, nor does it explain how contested cases and uncontested cases really differ. For an in-depth discussion as to how the timing of an uncontested divorce differs with that of a contested case, please take a look at this article, which provides a detailed comparison of the timelines in uncontested and contested cases. It may also be worth taking a look at a rundown of the advantages and disadvantages of uncontested and contested divorce.

An uncontested divorce skips the initial steps involved with a contested case that I have outlined above. Instead, the parties come to the attorney having already reached an agreement on all aspects of their divorce. In other words, the parties leap over a huge portion of the divorce timeline by agreeing to all applicable aspects of their divorce, and thereby skipping the filing, serving, discovery, negotiations, and court appearances. By doing so, the divorce process gets streamlined, and the financial burdens reduced significantly.

In order for a divorce to be considered uncontested, the spouses must agree on all issues that are addressed in a dissolution case, including, but not limited to:

• Who will take what assets post-dissolution?
• Who will be responsible for each debt after the divorce is final?
• Will debts, like a mortgage or car loan, need to be refinanced to remove the non-responsible spouse? If so, how long will the spouse have to refinance? What if the spouse cannot refinance, how will that scenario be handled?
• Will one party be responsible for paying the other maintenance (alimony), and, if so, how much and for how long?
• What will the child custody arrangements be? Details that must be considered include transportation, visitation, holiday visitation schedules, vacations, school year vs. summer schedule, etc.
• Will child support be paid? If so, you and your spouse must work out all child support arrangements, including who will be paying child support, how much child support will be paid (if any at all), who will cover the children's health insurance, how daycare expenses will be paid, who will claim the children as dependents for tax purposes, how will college expenses be paid, etc.
• For your divorce to be considered uncontested, you'll even need to work out who will pay the court costs.
• For a more in depth conversation about what needs to be resolved in order for your divorce to be considered uncontested, please see the Uncontested Divorce Checklists.

As you can see, everything must be agreed upon for your divorce to be considered uncontested. I am often asked by clients if I can get their spouse to pay part of the attorney fees. The short answer is no, not in an uncontested divorce. In an uncontested divorce, neither I nor the court are "getting" one of the parties to do anything. The parties can, of course, agree that one party pays the fees, or reimburses the other party for a portion of the fees. In that case, the divorce remains uncontested, as the payment of attorney fees is simply one of the many issues that must be agreed-upon in order to proceed with an uncontested divorce.

So, what is an uncontested divorce? An uncontested divorce is a divorce like any other. However, in an uncontested divorce, the parties are able to reach an agreement as to property division, debt allocation, maintenance/alimony, and, if applicable, child custody and support. In doing so, the parties give themselves an opportunity to emerge from their divorce without incurring the financially devastating fees that often come with the prolonged litigation often associated with contested cases.