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Being Your Own Lawyer

Divorce, Separation, or Annulment?

Information Gathering

Preparing Your Court Documents

Filing Your Papers

Finalizing Your Divorce

FAQ

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Free Information Packet!

FILING YOUR PAPERS AND STARTING YOUR WAITING PERIOD

The Courthouse File.  To start your waiting period a file for your case must be opened at the county courthouse, and you must make your spouse a party to the court case.  The attorney takes care of opening your court file by paying the clerk of the court the filing fee and filing your petition in the file.

Joint Petition. The simplest and least expensive way to make your spouse a party to the court case is have him or her sign a joint petition.  If your spouse signs the petition, the 90 day waiting period begins as soon as the petition is filed in your court file.  In other words, the 90 day waiting period begins after these three things happen: (1) you sign the petition; (2) your spouse signs the petition; and (3) the petition is filed with the court.  If your spouse will sign the petition, you can skip the remainder of this Step 4 because it is not necessary to prepare a summons or serve the papers on your spouse.

The Summons. If your spouse is missing or refuses to sign the petition, things get a little more complicated.  In order to make your spouse a party to the court case, you will have to attach a summons to the petition and have the summons and petition "served" on your spouse.  In this case, the 90 day waiting period does not begin until the following three things happen: (1) you and the attorney (if you are using an attorney) sign the petition and the summons; (2) the summons and petition are filed in the court file; and (3) a copy of the summons and petition are served on your spouse.

Serving the Summons and Petition.  There are three ways to serve the summons and petition on your spouse.  The first is by having a process server hand your spouse a copy of the summons and petition.  This is called "personal service."  The second is by mailing the summons and petition by certified mail, but this cannot be done until after a judge has signed an order giving permission to use certified mail.  The third method is to publish the summons in a newspaper, but this cannot be done until you have demonstrated to the court that you have looked for your spouse and have inquired of relative and friends who might know where he or she is.  The courts are reluctant to allow service by certified mail or publication because there is no guarantee that your spouse has actually been notified of the fact that you are divorcing him or her.  In addition, you may not get child support or other things you want because of the limitations of service by certified mail or publication.  Once you have served a copy of the summons, you must file another document with the court as proof that the summons was served on your spouse.  If you do not file this proof, the judge will not sign your papers at the end of the 90 day waiting period.

Proposed Parenting Plan.  If you have dependent children of this marriage, you will also have to prepare and file a proposed parenting plan on the mandatory forms.  This contains your proposal regarding which of you the children should live with and when the children should visit the other parent.  If your spouse is not signing a joint petition, you will also have to serve a copy of your proposed parenting plan on your spouse.