Not all spouses go through the loud courtroom drama to end their marriage officially. No one-size-fits-all approach works here. The procedure, timespan and cost vary from one divorce case to another and largely depend on the separating couple, communication skill and if the spouses agree to sacrifice their ego and iron out their differences for a final agreement. In other words, the destination ‘DIVORCE’ can be reached through different paths and the ultimate choice depends on the ‘COMPLEXITIES’ involved.
Fault Divorce vs No-Fault Divorce
Traditional divorces are categorized as Fault and No-Fault. In a Fault Divorce case, the filing spouse alleges that the other spouse’s specific conduct caused the rift in their marriage. Only in few states, the couples are allowed to file fault-based divorce. Fault divorces slap the spouses with heavier expenses and take time as one party is required to prove the allegation brought against the other. Some of the commonest allegations in fault-based divorces are:
- Abandonment
- Abuse or Cruelty
- Adultery
- Alcohol or Drug Abuse
- Desertion
- Impotency
A No-Fault Divorce refers to a process of ending the marriage in a ‘No-Fussy’ way as the filing spouse brings no allegation against his/her partner to end the marriage. The no-fault divorce procedure is allowed in a large number of states across the country. The filing spouse needs to cite the legal grounds of the state in order to request for a divorce. The requirements for no-fault divorce are not same across the state but the common elements are:
- Incompatibility
- Irreconcilable differences
- Irretrievable breakdown
Some states allow the filing spouse to request a divorce on the ground of separation for a particular time period.
Uncontested Divorce
An uncontested divorce refers to a procedure where both spouses agree on every legal ground and divorce-related term. Both the spouses are required to draft a legally binding settlement agreement and sign the same to tell the court about the couple’s plan for:
- Marital Debt Allocation
- Marital Property Division
- Child Custody and Child Support
- Parenting Time
- Spousal Support
- Any other terms pertinent to divorce
Collaborative Divorce
Collaborative Divorce is best suited for the couples willing to work in cohesion to resolve the divorce-related issue without the court’s intervention. The process kicks off with each spouse approaching a divorce lawyer in Galveston who has specialization and experience in collaborative divorce. The spouses and the attorneys agree that the attorneys will not continue with the case if the couple fails to iron out the issues between them and in that case, the spouses need to work from the scratch.
Summary Divorce
The couples in some states can resort to Summary Divorce if they
- Agree on all divorce-related issues
- Stayed married for a brief time
- Don’t have minor children from their marriage
- Have limited debt
- Don’t own extensive marital property
- Have no separate property issues
Default Divorce
A Default Divorce implies that the court will grant the divorce plea and all the remedies requested by the filing spouse. If the couple has minor children, the court will make sure that any child custody or support arrangement fulfills the state’s standards and protects the best interest of the child before pronouncing a final divorce judgment.