Duluth Divorce Lawyers: Uncontested vs Contested Divorce
Did you know that the divorce rate in the United States is as high as 50%? Divorces happen for a variety of reasons and while they are always tough to deal with, they don’t always have to be nightmares. A contested divorce can take a long time and it can be wrought with stress and anger.
An uncontested divorce, on the other hand, tends to go a lot smoother. But why? What is the difference between an uncontested and contested divorce? Keep reading and learn more about these different types of separation and how divorce lawyers can help.
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Contact the Roswell family law attorneys at Hobson & Hobson, P.C. today at (404) 383-8401. We have a satellite location at 2180 Satellite Blvd Suite 400, Office 45, Duluth, GA 30097 (open Google Maps) just two miles north of Alpharetta St. Upon calling, one of our experienced professionals will help you begin your journey toward an amicable resolution.
What You Need To Know About a Contested Divorce
During the process of divorce, both spouses will have to come to an agreement regarding marital assets, child custody, and other factors such as the division of property. The problem with a contested divorce is that the two spouses are not able to come to any sort of agreement. This is a common problem that often happens during the process of spouses’ separation.
Contested divorces can vary from couple to couple, but the overall aspect tends to be more or less the same. Some contested divorces may involve spouses disagreeing on only one matter. Other contested divorces may involve the spouses disagreeing on several matters.
This tends to happen when the spouses are so angry at each other or have such different opinions that they simply cannot arrive at any kind of agreement. The problem is that if the spouses cannot agree on important matters such as spousal support, child support, and so on, then the process of divorce cannot continue.
If that is the case, then the divorce will have to be brought to court. From there, the two spouses will have to, in a sense, battle out the divorce process. Going to court will be necessary even if you and your spouse disagree on only one matter.
Duluth Divorce Attorneys: The Details
Going to court can be quite stressful as you will have to give opening statements explaining why your side of the argument is correct in contrast to your spouse’s side. There will be a judge who will listen to you and your spouse. The judge’s role in all this is to help the two of you come to an agreement or choose an outcome for you, depending on what outcome will be the fairest.
Ideally, you will also have a divorce lawyer on your side to help you out. When you hire a divorce lawyer, that lawyer will help you through various tricky situations and make the process a bit smoother. But overall, if going to court is necessary, you should expect to pay quite a lot of money.
This is because going to court will require you to pay your attorney for his or her work and you may have to pay some other fees as well. This is not to mention that the entire process of going to court and battling for your opinion is quite stressful and exhausting. So, what is an uncontested divorce in comparison?
What Is an Uncontested Divorce?
An uncontested divorce is arguably the best and easiest method of getting a divorce. It involves the two spouses coming to an agreement on matters such as spousal support, the division of property, child support, and so on. Because the spouses agree right away, there will be no need for lengthy sessions in court or large bills to pay.
Instead, you can get your divorce over and done with in quite a speedy manner. To make an uncontested divorce official, it would be necessary for the spouses to have a written agreement. Usually, a lawyer or divorce mediator will help create this document.
The agreement, as the name suggests, documents everything that the spouses agree on. Once that document is finished, it can be submitted to the court where it will be reviewed. As long as everything goes as planned, the agreement should be approved and the divorce should be on the way to being over and done with.
What You Need to Know
However, not all uncontested divorces go this way. In some cases, one spouse may file divorce papers and specify certain things that he or she wants. If the other spouse does not respond to the divorce papers and does arrive at the divorce court to agree or disagree with these requests, then the divorce may proceed without that spouse.
As a result, the one spouse would get whatever he or she requested in the divorce papers. This is not a very common scenario, but it does occasionally happen. While an uncontested divorce is a very easy way to get a divorce, it obviously can’t be the case with every divorce.
Some spouses may have opinions that are too different to come to an easy agreement. However, there are certain ways in which you can make the entire process a lot easier. In particular, hiring a good divorce lawyer will smooth out any bumps that you may encounter along the way.
A divorce mediator may also be able to help you and your spouse agree on certain factors before you go to court.
All About Uncontested and Contested Divorces
The process of divorce is always stressful, but it can be made easier with an uncontested approach and made more complicated with a contested approach. While not all divorces can be uncontested, they don’t have to be terribly complicated as long as you have a good divorce lawyer on your side.
To learn more, contact us here.
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