A divorce or a Legal Separation? Uncontested or Contested type of divorce procedure? An annulment or a Cooling-off period? As a rule, we do not know 100% what the differences among all these notions are. In general, couples have divorce proceedings only once, so anyway they will be pioneers of their marriage termination and will undoubtedly face several items challenging to solve. If you hesitate what divorce type to choose, we will give you a full guide of the most common sorts of a divorce procedure and explain your main rules of each divorce. Let us do it immediately!
1. Divorce (both Contested and Uncontested).
If a divorce is a Contested one, it means that you do not have any agreement with your wife or husband and you are not ready to have a dialogue with her/him at all. The controversial issues can relate to any sphere of your everyday life, for instance, a division of common property or child custody. A Contested Divorce also means a proceeding itself is much longer than an Uncontested divorce and far more expensive.
The price for Contested Divorce is much higher than for Uncontested due to its more difficult structure, various processes, the legal help of the lawyer, etc. In California as well as in the whole USA, an Uncontested divorce is much more popular, and of high demand, because we are dealing with civilized people, nobody wants to argue with the spouse, fight for every corner of the common property and so on.
As a rule, a Contested divorce lasts more than one year, and an Uncontested one lasts 3-6 months. It depends on the case, and it is a highly individual process. There are several residency requirements for the California citizens willing to end their relations legally. In general, they are not somewhat strict, you will have an opportunity to get the divorce provided you live in California more than one year, or your spouse did it, moreover in California it is also required to terminate the marriage at the same county you did a registration.
All the divorce documents you can prepare for an Uncontested divorce by yourself or with the help of the attorney. Furthermore, you can use services specializing in developing forms and materials that are affordable and highly qualified enough within two days or something like that. In California, it is a high number of such organizations so that you can choose the most suitable one precisely for you!
2. A legal separation.
It is not yet a divorce and it is a so-called preparation for it that can last six months or a bit more. You might live separately with your spouse, and you both care for your common children, shared property, debts, etc. Both spouses are still married, so in California, it is strictly forbidden to get married once again while you are still married another person.
Moreover, in California, it is also illegal to cohabitate with somebody while you are married and currently to have a legal separation. The breaking will cost you lots of money, so you should follow the rules you get. To get a legal separation, you also need to fulfill several rules and follow recommendations of the county court; however, this type of marriage termination is not so time-consuming for instance a Contested divorce and will not take a significant amount of time!
3. An annulment of marriage. If you were made to marry somebody or your wedding was a fraud, or nowadays your spouse is incurably ill, you can ask the county court of California to commit an annulment of marriage. It is an uncommon thing especially in the modern world, although in 2018 there took place several occasions of a marriage cancellation. When the judge gives you the decree of annulment, it fairly means that your spouse has never existed in your life before.
Typical children will get the joint child custody, however, all the property you had before the annulment is only yours, and nobody can have any rights for it! As a rule, an annulment is somewhat not typical for the American society, despite all the issues a regular divorce is much more preferable instead, but precedents of the cancellation can be vivid as well in our time, so before filing for dissolution, read the rules of it in especially your county attentively!
As a rule, all the cases are different, and you can have an opportunity to choose ant type of the divorce processes mentioned above, you may have advice from the legal side or by yourself, however you should always a kind of divorce being somewhat profitable for you, without any inconveniences that can be crucial in any case. Believe in yourself and your desire for a better life, and everything will be good!
A professional writer with over a decade of incessant writing skills. Her topics of interest and expertise range from health, nutrition and psychology.