Uncontested Divorce

The uncontested divorce can be on consent, which means that your spouse will actually agree to the divorce by signing the required documents. All that is needed in an uncontested divorce is that your spouse sign an affidavit and, depending on the circumstances, a stipulation in the presence of a public notary. The divorce papers, are then submitted to the court for approval.

The uncontested divorce can be on default, which means that your spouse is served by a process server and does not give a written objection to the divorce to your attorney. For the divorce to proceed by default, your spouse must not give a written objection for at least 20 days if served in New York. If served outside of New York,the period for giving the written objection is 30 days. After the allowed period, if there is no written objection, then the papers will be submitted to the court for approval.

Lastly, the divorce can be by publication, which means that you do not know the whereabouts of your spouse, you have gotten permission from the court to publish a legal notice, you have published the legal notice, and you have not received a response. Once the time to respond has passed, you may then submit your papers to the court for approval.

 If there are children, the divorce must resolve all issues relating to the children, including custody, visitation and support. If there are assets, such as a house, issues related to the assets must also be resolved.

 The time to deal with these issues is when you are seeking a divorce. If you do not exercise those rights during the divorce process, you will likely waive those rights. If you and your spouse cannot agree on how to resolve these issues, you will need to proceed with what is called a contested divorce