Washington, DC Divorce Laws

Why Learn More About Washington DC Divorce Laws?

If you are willing to spend thousands on a highly professional lawyer, you can rest assured that the legal aspects of your marriage dissolution will be addressed properly. In this case, you will have to pay a great sum for legal services as lawyers usually charge high hourly fees. However, if you seek to reduce your divorce-related costs, getting a deeper insight into divorce laws in Washington, DC is more of a necessity rather than a choice.

All states in the US have unique laws regarding all legal matters. If you are about to initiate a divorce process in Washington, DC, it is crucial to understand the filing requirements established in the state first. For example, to start a marriage dissolution process, either you or your spouse must be a resident of the state for six months or more. If you do not meet this requirement, you have to wait for the necessary amount of time to file your papers. This is one of the basic aspects of the marriage dissolution process and there are a lot of others you should know in order to qualify for the divorce in the state. Therefore, we have decided to share those that you should absolutely be aware of.

Basics of the Divorce: Washington DC Laws

The first thing you need to take into account is the grounds for divorce, which are the reasons or the basis for it. According to the divorce laws in Washington DC, you can initiate a marriage dissolution on one of two grounds:

1. You and your spouse have amicably decided to and have lived on different living quarters for at least half a year (with no marital relations).

2. You two haven’t lived together for a year – no matter whether or not this decision was mutual. If you and your spouse live under one roof, a judge will recognize your separation only if you manage different budgets and sleep in different rooms. And, once again, having no marital relations during this period is a must.

If you owe any property, you need to consider how it will be divided. Before you start negotiating property division, you should understand that everything that each of you has somehow acquired (items, gifts, and inheritance) before the marriage is beyond discussion. These things are your personal property, and the discussion will only be about your marital one. This includes everything you have brought during the marriage, such as real estate, vehicles, jewelry, and even furniture. These things should be divided with each party’s interests in mind and this is the only way the result will be satisfactory for all. However, if your couple struggles to settle this issue on your own, the court might do it for you at their discretion. Unfortunately, you might not like the results in such a case. Therefore, agreeing on this aspect beforehand and making sure your divorce is uncontested is something that can help both you and your spouse avoid the disappointments in the future.

If you have children, it would be paramount to consider the aspect of the child custody. Usually, when determining custody, the court takes into account the following: any incidents of domestic abuse, the kids’ wishes, the distance between parents’ homes, etc. There are quite a few factors involved, but at the end of the day, if you and your spouse do not make the decisions about the custody yourself, you will leave it to the court, and the outcomes might not suit you both.

It's important to note that infidelity is not considered when dividing property and resolving child custody battles. Under the Washington DC divorce alimony laws and custody regulations, you can either settle your spousal support disputes amicably or the court will make a decision for you, bearing in mind the length of your partnership and both financial and physical health of each party. Moreover, the less decisions you make together with your spouse, the longer the divorce process will take. Therefore, it’s highly recommended that you reach full agreement on all aspects of your marriage dissolution before you file. This way, you will be sure that once your divorce is finalized, there will be no animosity between you and your spouse over the court decisions and conclusions.

Divorce Process in Washington DC

Almost every marriage dissolution process consists of these three stages:

1. Divorce papers preparation

When it comes to the divorce in Washington, DC, requirements for qualifying for a marriage dissolution is something you need to look at first. Once you’re sure you qualify, it’s necessary to get your legal forms ready to be filed. You can either deal with your paperwork on your own do it with the help of a professional online service. As it is rather hard to find valid legal forms online and understand the terminology used in them without having any background in law, trying to do everything yourself is neither an easy nor a quick option. Luckily, Online Divorcer is one, and you can always rely on us to prepare all your divorce documents for you in a matter of days and for a very affordable price.

2. Filing the forms and serving the spouse

To start a Washington DC divorce process, one of two spouses is supposed to file the documents with the court clerk. After that, the person who filed the forms will have to serve Summons on the other spouse by means identified by the court.

3. Attending the hearing

If you make your divorce case uncontested from the very beginning, you will get a court date set in up to 5 weeks and have a pretty short hearing to finalize your divorce. Such hearings are usually quick and scheduled before the contested cases because they do not take much time. When both spouses are in full agreement – there is not much left to the discussion, which makes it easier for every party involved.

While the divorce process might seem a bit confusing from the first glance, it will be pretty straightforward if your marriage dissolution is uncontested. Moreover, in this case, you will be able to order your forms from Online Divorcer, which means you will also get a set of instructions outlining the divorce process in Washington, DC. With all the guidelines and details provided there, you can be certain that you will finalize your dissolution of marriage quickly and successfully.

States divorce law