Can You Do A Divorce By Yourself?
Michigan is a no-fault divorce state. What that means is that you don’t have to prove that either spouse did anything wrong in order to get a divorce. All you do have to show is that the marriage has become broken beyond any hope of repair. Once your spouse is informed of your intention to initiate the divorce, there is no need for them to be involved in the process unless there is some disagreement regarding one of the core aspects of divorce.
In order to file for divorce, you must be a resident of Michigan for 180 days (6 months) and a resident of the county where you are filing for divorce for at least 10 days. In this blog we will be going over the steps of divorce and if you should go about doing a divorce by yourself.
The Process of Doing a Divorce By Yourself
Here are the first couple of steps of getting a divorce done. Is your marriage valid under Michigan law? If not then you cannot get a divorce because divorce is a dissolution of a legal marriage. If your marriage was not legally valid, then you may need to look into getting an annulment. A valid marriage requires a valid marriage license and a solemnization by someone legally authorized to perform it (such as a priest or a judge). Both parties must consent to the marriage and must be physically and mentally capable of giving that consent (they must be 18 years old unless they have parental permission).
Also, the would-be spouses cannot be blood relatives. When you apply for your marriage license, you should bring a photo ID, proof of age, and the $20 application fee. Once you apply for the license, there is a 72 hour (3 day) minimum waiting period. Once you receive the license you must have the ceremony within 33 days.
If you and your new spouse already agree about what should happen in the event of a divorce, it would be a good idea to write up a document to this effect as soon as possible. You can also do this just before the divorce. Such an agreement is sometimes called a post-marital agreement and will save both of you a lot of time and stress by avoiding a drawn-out and contentious divorce process. Be aware that such agreements can never be used to determine child custody or child support.
Initiating The Divorce
To get the process started, one of the spouses must file a complaint for divorc e with the family court. This complaint should include that spouse’ proposal for how the various issues (alimony, marital property, child custody, child support) should be resolved. You must also serve a copy of this complaint to your spouse within 90 days (3 months) of filing it with the court (or your complaint will be dismissed. You are not allowed to serve papers in person, so you will have to find a designated server. This person will have to be at least 18 years old. They can either hand deliver or mail the papers to your spouse. If you are the spouse being served with papers, you have 21 days to respond with an answer if you have any objections to the proposals made by your spouse.
If you do file an answer, it must be a point by point response/rebuttal to the original complaint. Not filing an answer will cause the divorce to enter default. In such cases, the judge may or may not grant the complaining spouse any or all of their requests. Having a premarital/post-marital/divorce agreement between the two of you has the same effect. Even if the divorce does go into default, there is still a mandatory 60-day waiting period. This period is extended to 180 days (6 months) if there are any children involved.
Between the time the divorce papers are filed and the final divorce order is issued by the judge, chances are you and your spouse aren’t living together. In any case, the various issues regarding the divorce (such as child custody and the marital household) will probably need to be addressed temporarily until a final determination is reached. For this purpose, the court will sometimes issue temporary (ex -parte) orders intended to maintain the status quo until the divorce is finalized. These orders can be requested even before the divorce papers are filed and can be requested by one spouse without the knowledge or input of the other spouse.
Conclusion
So should you do your divorce all on your own? The short answer is no, I mean can you technically try to do a divorce by yourself? Absolutely but you may not like the results you get, the divorce process is difficult and time consuming. It takes a professional to get the results that you want. The process requires the right attorneys so that you can get the outcome that you want. If you need more information on Divorce in The State of Michigan contact Goldman and Associates Law Firm. At Goldman and Associates, our attorneys are experts in family law and they will thoroughly examine all aspects of your divorce. With the best lawyers in Michigan, Goldman and Associates takes each and every case very seriously and gives you the outcome you desire.
For more information on divorce in the State of Michigan watch the video below and check out the Goldman and Associates YouTube channel for more videos on everything relating to law in Michigan. Make sure to give our attorneys a call if you have any questions.
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