Step 1		You decide that your marriage is over and want a divorce.
Step 2		After speaking with a lawyer and realizing that divorce is possible, you look at all your options:
		• Resolve all divorce issues on your own without assistance from trained professionals; • Litigate in the court system with a lawyer; • Arbitrate outside of the court system with a retired judge or lawyer as the decision maker; or • Mediate your divorce with a neutral third party mediator and have your agreement entered by the Court in the form of a Judgment of Divorce. For more information about mediation, please contact us at advocatesforfamilies@comcast.net.
Step 3		If you choose to litigate with your lawyer through the courts, you will first have to file a complaint. In some instances, you may request the court to enter various ex parte orders (orders entered without hearings) to, among other things, restrain the transfer of marital assets and/or determine temporary custody, support and parenting time issues if minor children are involved.
Step 4		Your spouse hires his or her own lawyer who files an answer to your divorce complaint and, most likely, files objections to your ex parte orders obtained in Step 3. That answer may also contain a counterclaim for divorce that your lawyer will have to answer as well. If objections are entered to your ex parte order(s), the Court will hold a hearing to resolve the issues.
Step 5		You and your spouse attempt to negotiate a mutually agreeable settlement through your lawyers at the very beginning of our case, without engaging in discovery.
Step 6		If a settlement is not reached, you and your spouse exchange discovery requests, which may include interrogatories, document requests, and requests for admissions. It is possible that depositions will also be scheduled, in which case you and your spouse will be questioned (or more like cross-examined) by your respective lawyers. Both parties will also engage in fact finding efforts from third parties. Both parties may also engage in motion practice during this phase.
Step 7		Late stage mediation may be recommended by the Court or by motion of one of the parties. If mediation is not successful, a trial date is scheduled and you to start to prepare with your lawyer. You start to realize that this is serious and starting to get expensive. You also may begin wondering whether your divorce should have been resolved through mediation or settled at the start of your case.
Step 8		But on the day of your trial, you and your spouse may have another chance to settle your disputes as opposed to litigating them in front of the judge. If settlement is not reached, both of you stumble into the courtroom to argue your positions to the judge.
Step 9		During the trial, you testify and are cross-examined on the stand. Your spouse does the same. Other witnesses and experts may also appear and testify. And after the lawyers make their closing arguments, your future lies totally in the hands of the judge – a decision that you will most likely have to live with for the rest of your life.
Step 10		The Court renders a decision on all issues presented to it for resolution and a Judgment of Divorce is entered. You are now finally divorced and may or may not be happy with the outcome.