Divorce Law: What is Divorce Law?
Divorce law is more than an area of law. Divorce law involves real people having real life experiences. Divorce law is about helping people end their marriages and move forward with their lives. Divorce is an emotional process as well as legal and financial process. The complexities of emotion mixed with the complexities of the law can be difficult to navigate.
At The Law Office of Keith A. Singer, we are experienced divorce lawyers. Our approach to divorce law is about making sure you, our client, are treated fairly during the divorce process. It’s making sure that you are pleased with the outcome. If there are children involved, our approach to divorce law includes making sure that your children are treated fairly, too. We aim to simplify the process so that you can make the best decisions for you and your family.
The Law Office of Keith Singer, PLLC, based in Tucson Arizona, focuses on family law, divorce law, and child custody law. The Law Office of Keith A. Singer has decades of experience helping people just like you with families just like yours. Having the right divorce lawyer on your legal team helping you navigate the complicated waters of divorce can make the experience tolerable. Having an experienced divorce lawyer can help make the outcome of experience more favorable.
Divorce Law: The Process
Divorce is one of the most stressful areas of law and having a divorce lawyer on your side can help alleviate some of the stress. Ending a committed relationship that involves the dissolution and restructuring of familial bonds can be difficult or even impossible to handle alone. Divorce can be a lengthy process. At minimum, the divorce process will take about three months. A divorce can go on for eighteen months or longer, depending on the complexity of the case.
In Arizona, you may get divorced in one of three ways:
- Divorce by consent,
- Divorce by default, or
- Divorce by the traditional trial process.
Divorce Law: Divorce by Consent
If you and your spouse are able to agree to the terms of your divorce, you may be able to be divorced by consent. This process can be completed in as little at 61 days and does not require you or your spouse to appear in court.
Divorce Law: Divorce by Default
If the responding party does not respond to the divorce, you may be able to be divorced by default. The default process requires additional paperwork. Certain issues may not be able to be addressed through the default process. The default process does require one of the parties to appear in court for a default hearing.
Divorce Law: Divorce by Trial
Finally, there is the traditional way of getting divorced wherein both parties participate in a trial to decide any unresolved issues.
Divorce Law: The Petition
To start a divorce, you or your spouse must file a petition. Then, the other spouse will have the opportunity to respond to the petition. In both cases, parties may hire a divorce attorney to help. Informal settlement conversations may start at any point in the process. There is a formal requirement of a settlement conversation, wherein both spouses sit down with a judge pro tempore. The judge pro tempore tries to help the parties reach agreements to all of the issues in the case. If any issues remain after the settlement conference, there will be a trial to resolve the remaining issues. There may also be evidentiary issues that need to be addressed before going to trial.
If children are involved, both parties are required to complete a mandatory parent education course through the Family Conciliation Court. Once both parents have completed that course, the parents are required to attend mediation. At mediation, a trained mediator will work with both parties to resolve the issues relating to the children. Any issues that are not resolved by mediation will be issues that the judge will decide at a trial, if necessary.
Divorce Law: The Paperwork
The divorce paperwork is a critical component to your divorce. It is possible to complete divorce forms on your own, at a self-help legal clinic, or with the help of a divorce attorney. The forms can be confusing and may not include all of your options. There are different forms that need to be filed at different times during the process to keep your case moving. Some of the paperwork includes: the petition, the response, motion for mediation, motion to set and certificate of readiness, pretrial statement, and resolution management statement among others.
Getting help from an experienced divorce lawyer is a good idea. It ensures you and your family are protected, especially if you have many assets. The Law Office of Keith A. Singer will handle all the paperwork and court filings for your divorce. We are experience divorce attorneys and will guide you through the process. We will be your legal advocate. Our divorce attorneys are happy to review your paperwork or directly represent you in the divorce.
Divorce Law: The Divorce Petition
The first step in a divorce is to file a petition for divorce, also known as a petition for dissolution. The divorce petition tells the court what you are asking for in the divorce. You need to cover all of your bases in your paperwork. If you fail to ask for something in the divorce petition, you are probably not going to get it when the divorce is finalized. Having a divorce attorney on your team can be very important at this stage of your divorce.
In filing a divorce petition, you must make a lot of decisions. You will need to make decisions as to the division of property, assets, and debts. You will need to decide if one of the parties is entitled to spousal maintenance (also known as alimony).
If you have children, you need to decide additional issues regarding parenting time and parental decision making for your children. You will have to decide how you and your spouse will work together for your children to make decisions about health care, education, religion, and other major life choices. You will need to devise a parenting time schedule that ensures that each parent has meaningful contact with the minor children. You will have to choose a communication plan and a review schedule in addition to many other decisions.
Additionally, you may need to make more complex arguments like claims of domestic violence or community waste. More complex claims require careful handling of the issues.
Divorce Law: Contact The Law Office of Keith A. Singer
To learn more about Arizona’s No-Fault Divorce, Single Attorney Solutions for Divorce, or if you have other questions or concerns about a family law matter, please Contact The Law Office of Keith A. Singer or call 520.795.1800.
While no one can predict the outcome of any divorce or legal action, having the right team on your side can help you achieve an outcome that is best for you.
See also: Can Your Marriage Be Saved?
