Nolo's Essential Guide to Divorce - Emily Doskow [36]
Finally, you'll submit an order for the judge to sign, granting the divorce and declaring that you are no longer married. This form will often be called an "order," "judgment," or "decree" of divorce. For the rest of this hook, we'll refer to it as the final order. Every divorce case must have a signed order that ends the marriage.
Often, you'll be asked to submit one more form along with the final order-it might be called "Notice of Entry of judgment" or "Notice of Entry of Order." On this form, you'll put your name and address and your spouse's name and address, and, in some places, you'll be required to attach stamped envelopes with the addresses on them as well. This will allow the clerk to send you and your spouse a notice when the judge signs your final judgment.
If you're doing a default divorce, you'll submit these papers yourself. Otherwise, either you or your spouse can prepare and submit the final paperwork.
Ask the court clerk whether a court hearing is required before the judge will grant your divorce. If there is a hearing, most likely you and your spouse will simply have to appear and confirm for the judge that you both understand and agree to the divorce and the terms of the marital settlement agreement. (See "Going to Court," in Chapter 5 for advice about courtroom etiquette.)
Just as every state has a residency requirement before you can file for divorce, each state also has a waiting period before your divorce can be made final. The waiting period runs from the date that the responding party was served with or acknowledged receiving the court papers. (In legal jargon, that's the date the court "acquired jurisdiction" over that person.) Make sure you find out whether your state has a waiting period and what it is-even after you have filed your settlement agreement and final documents, you are not officially divorced until the waiting period has passed and the judge has signed the final divorce order. If you don't find the waiting period in any of the forms or instructions you're using for your uncontested divorce, ask the court clerk or use any of the resources listed in Chapter 16 to find it.
Most of the time, the process of negotiating your settlement and preparing your papers will take you as long as the waiting period, so you won't have to worry about it. But if you complete your paperwork quickly, you can still submit it to the court. When you prepare the final order of divorce, you'll have to list a date that your marital status ends. If you're past the waiting period, you can leave the date blank for the court to fill in. But if you're not, calculate the date that the waiting period ends, and enter that date. The judge may sign the order in advance, but the order will state that you're not divorced until that date.
You'll need to figure out how you'll get the final, signed divorce order back. One way is to leave a postage-paid envelope with the clerk along with your final papers when you submit them, with enough postage for return of copies of all the documents you've submitted. The court won't necessarily mail you a copy of the judgment if you don't leave the envelope for them. Or you can go pick up the judgment when the clerk sends you a notice saying it's ready.
Always make sure your divorce is complete ...
One attorney tells a story about a client who came in seeking help with an adoption. "The client had been married many years before, and the social worker investigating the adoption asked to see her divorce judgment. She couldn't find it. After some research with the court, we discovered that she and her husband had never submitted a final divorce order for the judge's signature in their uncontested divorce. Her husband had remarried and had three children with his new wife, and the client had moved on as well, but all the time they were still legally married to each other!
"We were able to get the judge to enter the divorce judgment retroactively, so that the husband's second marriage was not bigamous. But