Georgia Divorce Steps

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Georgia divorce steps give a general idea about rules to be followed while applying for a divorce. A divorce is often regarded as an ending of a marital relationship. In Georgia, the residency requirement for divorce is six months. That means, if a person wants to file for a permanent separation, he or she has to be a resident of the state of Georgia for at least six months. The grounds for getting divorced from the partner are many such as force, violence, adultery, major differences, sexual incapacity, mental problems, etc.

In order to file for a divorce, an applicant has to fulfill all the necessary documentation and submit it in the court with the court clerk. The service of such petition to the other spouse is next step that an applicant has to follow. If a marriage has been irretrievably broken down and the divorce documents have been served to the respondent, then, from the date of service, there is a waiting period of 30 days after which the divorce can be granted. When the dissolution is finalized, then, there is no waiting period for remarriage.

Georgia Divorce Steps regarding rights of grandparents:

• In this state, grandparents are empowered to file for visitation rights
• However, the above mentioned filing is taken into account only when the parents of the minor child have been separated and the child is residing with any one parent
• Assume that the family unit is not broken. In this case, visitation rights are not granted to the grandparents
• Consider that a parent or legal guardian desires to alter the previously awarded visitation rights. Then, the following points must be kept in mind:
  • The parent or legal guardian must be able to show cause for an alteration
  • The parent or legal guardian can file a petition in the court only once every 2 years

Georgia Divorce Steps post service

If we consider a situation in which a Respondent has been served the divorce documents,then the following steps should be taken by such Respondent:

• The Respondent must immediately contact a divorce lawyer

• The Respondent must submit a signed and notarized document to the court mentioning that he or she has received a copy of the divorce documents

• The Respondent must ensure that he or she responds to the divorce documents in written form within 30 days from the date of service

• The Respondent may choose any of the following in the response:
  • Denial of all the claims in the complaint
  • Denial of some and acceptance of some claims in the complaint
  • Acceptance of all the claims in the complaint
  
  
• If there is a denial of certain claims, then, the Respondent, with the assistance of the lawyer, can file a counterclaim and further sue the Petitioner

• There are cases in which the Respondent does not file a response in written form within 30 days from the date of service. In these cases, the court concludes that the Respondent has agreed with all the points mentioned in the complaint.

Steps to take to decrease the expenses in the divorce

The main expense regarding a divorce is fee of lawyers. It can be very expensive if the case continues for a long period of time. There are some lawyers who levy a flat fee for managing the divorce. Some other charge as per the hours invested in the case. Some of the points for which the lawyers levy charges are as follows:

• The time spent by the lawyer on the telephone to speak with the divorcing partner or the lawyer of the other divorcing partner
• The time spent in court
• The travel time needed to go and come back from the court
• The time spent for collecting and managing the evidences

The divorcing partners must aim to decrease the gross time of the above points to reduce their bill. Another advice is that if the divorcing partners can reach an agreement amongst themselves regarding most of the issues of the divorce. This may help to reduce the number of trips to the court and respective expenses. This is an important step to curtail the expenses.

There are many types of divorce such as contested, uncontested or mutual agreement divorce. The procedure for each of these types will vary according to the specific requirements for that dissolution. Also some other factors influence the divorce steps which are level of communication between partners, financial conditions, nature of the case, age of children, etc.

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