What are the basic elements of a divorce?

(In this article, we will cover the basic elements of any divorce, including when using an online divorce product such as OurDivorceAgreement.com.)

No matter how one goes about the divorce process, there are three basic elements that make up any divorce:

1) A property settlement agreement (and child care plan, if minor children are present) is the core of any divorce. In this document, you tell the judge who is getting what from the marriage and how you plan to share the care and responsibilities of your minor children (if you have them.)

In an online divorce product such as OurDivorceAgreement.com, you enter your property and child information in a series of online forms. That information is transferred to your Property Settlement Agreement and Child Care Plan. 

Other common names for this document include divorce agreement and separation agreement.

2) The second major component of any divorce is the financial disclosure document.  The purpose of financial disclosure documents is to tell the Court what the two of you have in the way of assets and debts and to disclose your income and expenses.  Both parties complete financial disclosure documents and sign and notarize them.  This represents your sworn statement to the court that the information you disclose is complete and accurate.

One of the main reasons a Court requires financial disclosure documents is to make sure the parties are completely and accurately disclosing their asset and debt information to each other and to the Court.  If a person misrepresents or fails to disclose something to the Court in the financial disclosure documents, penalties could be imposed.

In an online divorce product such as OurDivorceAgreement.com, you enter your combined assets and debts in your financial forms and your income and expenses in the budget form.  This data is automatically transferred to your financial disclosure documents to be printed, signed, notarized and filed.

3) The final major element of any divorce is the filing forms.  The filing forms are state/province specific in the US and Canada.  In Australia, there are two sets of filing forms - one for Western Australia and another for the rest of the country.  Other countries vary as to whether they have a state system of divorce filing or a national one.

In an online divorce site, such as OurDivorceAgreement.com, a system is in place to minimize the number of entries needed to complete the filing forms.

A divorcing couple signs all of the documents from the online divorce site and submits them to the divorce court in their jurisdiction.  In most cases this will be the divorce court within the county of residence. 

In the next installment in this series, we will cover the major steps involved in getting a divorce. 

For questions, contact the author at mark.stein@OurDivorceAgreement.com or +1 502 897 3020.

(Nothing in this article is intended to be considered "legal advice."  An online divorce site can give you the tools to complete your divorce but, there is no substitute for sound legal advice from a lawyer from your jurisdiction looking at your situation strictly from your point of view when seeking a divorce.)

0 comments: (+add yours?)

Post a Comment