Wallace Law Office..........

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FINALIZING YOUR CONTESTED DIVORCE

Contests. At any time before the judge signs your final papers, your spouse can file papers with the court indicating that he or she disagrees with something in the papers which you have filed. The disagreement can be about anything from who gets the silverware to how much child support should be paid. It does not matter how large or small the disagreement is. Once the court has conflicting papers from you and your spouse, the court has to have a trial to settle the differences. Both of you are entitled to appear in court and argue your side of the case.

Temporary Orders. Since trials may not occur until months or years after you have filed for your divorce, you are entitled to go to court before the trial and get temporary orders to cover certain important matters until the trial can be held. These temporary orders can provide for temporary custody of children, child support, protection from harassment, preservation of assets, and many more matters. Temporary orders require that additional papers be filed with the court and that a hearing be held in front of the judge or court commissioner, so they can be very expensive.

Trial Preparation. Your attorney will have to spend a great deal of time investigating the facts of your case, working with the witnesses who can help you, and preparing your case to be presented to the judge. The more populous counties have schedules set up requiring your lawyer to file certain documents on certain dates as the trial approaches. Because each case is unique the trial preparation varies greatly. The more things you and your spouse disagree about, the more expensive your trial preparation will be.

Trial. At your trial the attorney will present evidence which supports your position, and your spouse's attorney will present evidence supports your spouse's position. The judge will then decide how the disputes will be settled. After that the attorneys will prepare the final papers on the mandatory forms which set out what the judge decided. The attorneys will then present the final papers to the judge for the judge's signature. When the judge signs the final papers, the divorce is final.

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