Uncontested divorces are those that are more streamlined because the divorcing
couple agrees on a variety of important principles. Oftentimes, couples
that are planning to get an uncontested divorce have agreed about spousal
support, divisions of debt,
property division and
child custody and don't need to battle about these situations in court. Yet there
are times that a "simple" divorce can be started by ignorance.
While a couple originally agreed about all of the above factors, when it
comes down to it the two may start to argue. In some cases, divorces that
start out as uncontested eventually end up in a contested, court-battle
fiasco. Miscommunication can ruin an uncontested divorce. If you truly
want to a fast divorce, you and your ex should write down all agreements
on an informal contract and both sign it to indicate that they have communicated
about the issues at hand and have arrived at a mutual agreement that is
also mutually understood.
Another pitfall in an uncontested divorce is the risk of hidden debts.
In a contested divorce, the court will go through all debts and divide
them up, so that each spouse will be given his or her court-ordered "fair"
share of these responsibilities. If you organize the division yourself,
you may discover additional debts in the future that you were unaware
at the outset of the divorce. Also, many uncontested divorces don't
involve children.
If you do have children and still want to work towards an uncontested divorce,
make sure that you consider child support payments, visitation rights,
holidays, birthdays and visitations over vacation, and how to resolve
any future disputes. Uncontested divorces often don't involve spousal
support, but if you want
spousal support then you may want to opt for a contested divorce instead. To learn more
about whether uncontested or contested divorce is right for you, talk
to a Los Angeles divorce attorney at Claery & Green today!