How do I reinstate my forms for divorce?
Full Question:
Answer:
At what stage were you in the divorce proceedings? The following is a general description of the various stages in most states.
1. The Petition
A divorce begins with the Petition. This document notifies the court and your spouse, when served, that you want the court to end your marriage. It also lists what you are asking for, such as child custody, child visitation, child support, spousal maintenance (alimony), property division, attorney's fees and costs.
2. The Response
After a Petition is served, the other spouse (the Respondent) is entitled to file opposing papers. In Arizona, if you are served with a Petition, you must file your opposing papers as the Respondent within twenty days if you are in state or thirty days if you live out of state, or you will lose your right to present your side of the case to the court, and the court might give your spouse everything asked for in the Petition through a default divorce.
3. Temporary orders
Temporary orders, also called pendente lite orders, set the rules while the case is pending. Either party can ask the court to make temporary orders stating, for example, who stays in the house, who is responsible for the children, who pays which bills, and restraining inappropriate conduct. It is in both spouses' best interest to agree upon reasonable arrangements while the case is pending rather than incur additional legal fees and add to bad feelings by having to go to court for temporary orders. In Arizona when children are involved, temporary orders for child support will automatically be ordered by the court when a divorce proceeding is filed or the other spouse is served. However, this process can take several months to be completed and temporary orders are generally a more expeditious means of having this order issued.
4. Discovery
Each spouse is entitled to information from the other about the case. The legal procedures for obtaining that information are called discovery. Discovery may be a simple, speedy process or one consuming a great deal of time, energy and money. Often times the depth of discovery depends upon the size and value of the estate and the length of the marriage. There are several different discovery procedures, sometimes referred to as discovery devices. A list of questions known as interrogatories, requiring a formal written answer to each question, may be sent. By a request for production one party may obtain documents from the other. In a deposition, or examination before trial, the spouses and other persons, including experts, may be required to answer questions under oath in a lawyer's office while a court reporter takes down what is said and then prepares a transcript. If your deposition is to be taken, there will be advance notice and your lawyer will discuss the procedure with you. Discovery may be conducted informally. It is often more efficient and less expensive for lawyers informally to exchange documents and information than to send and respond to interrogatories and requests for production and to take depositions.
5. Negotiated settlement
Most lawyers and judges agree that it is better to resolve a case by agreement than to have a trial in which a judge decides the outcome. Also, people who have been through a divorce value the privacy and control that a negotiated agreement gives them. People are more likely to obey a judgment which is based on their agreement than one which has been imposed on them by a judge. Voluntary compliance is important because enforcement procedures available from the court are usually expensive and sometimes inadequate. For these reasons, negotiating a settlement is often to both parties advantage. In Arizona, mediation may be ordered by the judge in an attempt to settle many if not all of the issues pertaining to the dissolution of marriage. Although your lawyer may recommend that you accept or reject a particular settlement proposal, the decision to settle or not to settle is yours. Your lawyer cannot and will not make that decision for you. If a case is settled by agreement early on in the process you may never see the inside of the courthouse, however, there are still certain legal procedures that have to be followed to turn your agreement into a judgment and end your marriage.
6. Trial
If you and your spouse cannot settle your case, it will go to trial. At trial you each tell your story to the judge. It is told through your testimony, the testimony of other witnesses, and documents called exhibits. Sometimes, a trial does not end the case. Each party may, within a limited period of time, appeal to a higher court. An appeal adds more time and expense to the divorce process and is hard to win.
