Uncontested Divorce Petition

Divorce Papers > Uncontested Divorce > Uncontested Divorce Petition

When two married partners decide to split, they face a lot of unusual situations. They are driven by various feelings like fear, anger, disrespect, insecurity, etc., and as a result their life gets totally shaken. At this time many people remain confused and are unable to act judiciously. Questions like 'how to file for the divorce', 'where to file', 'how to serve the petition', 'is my future secured post-dissolution' haunt them and they get stressed. To avoid this confusion and stress, many of them choose the process of an undisputed dissolution. It is less complicated as compared to a contested process. You can take the help of an attorney, if you have confusion regarding the process of preparing and filing the uncontested divorce petition. If you do not wish to hire an attorney, you can simply pay them some minimum fees and take their advice about the whole process.

The process of an uncontested dissolution begins when one separating partner files a case, that is, the papers. This separating partner is named as the Plaintiff. Further, this notice is served to the other partner. The recipient of the Petition is called as the Respondent or Defendant. This stage of the process is termed as 'service of process'. Sometimes the Respondent may also file a response to the notice mentioning that they agree for the separation. It is to be noted that the filing of a response by the respondent is not mandatory.

The venue for filing the case is the county clerk's office at the local courthouse. Along with the original copy , two photo copies should be kept. Original copy is for the clerk's office. One copy is retained by the applicant for self record. The second copy is mailed to the Respondent.

Contents of the Uncontested Divorce Petition

It comprises grounds for termination of marriage. It includes all the issues pertaining to a case like property distribution, visitation, child support etc. The below mentioned data is usually included:

• The names, addresses and dates of birth of both divorcing partners
• The location and date of marriage of the divorcing couple
• In case the divorcing couple has children, the names and dates of birth of the children
• The date of separation of the parties
• A summary of the assets and debts of both the divorcing partners

The contents of the petition are the answers of some questions, some of which are detailed below:

• How will the distribution of household items take place?
• Will the residence be sold? If no, will one partner buy-out the other partner's share?
• How will the division of equipment, yard tools, vehicles, credit cards etc. be done?
• What is either partner's share regarding retirement benefits like 401k?
• Will one partner get spousal support?
• If the divorcing couple has child or children, how are the custody arrangements of the child or children?
• What is the amount of child support, medical expenditure and day-care?
• What is the percentage of visitation?

Fee of Uncontested Divorce Petition

While the person files the case, he or she has to pay the filing fee. This filing fee varies from one state to another and from one county to the other. Sometimes it happens that the applicant does not have sufficient money to pay the fees. In such a case, the person has to submit an Affidavit which mentions that the Plaintiff can't afford the filing fee. If the Judge approves the Affidavit then the fees are waived.

Methods of serving the petition

One can serve the process in certain ways that are elaborated below:

• A majority of states in the United States expect that the applicant must serve the notice along with other forms personally to the Respondent. In an uncontested case, as both the divorcing partners are separating amicably, all that the Petitioner has to do is to meet the Respondent, hand over a copy of the documents and intimate that the Respondent should file an appearance in the office of the court clerk.
• However, it may happen that the Plaintiff may feel uncomfortable to serve the forms. In such a case, a legal process server can be requested to serve the notice. Such a server can be found online. The other way is that the court clerk can suggest the name of a legal process server known to the clerk.
• The third method is that the applicant may contact the office of the local sheriff and arrange to serve the documents.
• In extreme cases, when the Respondent cannot be traced or the Respondent purposefully evades the service, the method of Publication is used.

You must know the basic laws of your state before filing for the case. We hope that you have understood the process of preparing and serving an uncontested divorce petition after carefully going through the above-mentioned information.

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