Contested Divorce Issues

Why Does the Difference Matter?
A divorce is a real legal proceeding, as opposed to a separation, which has no real legal implications. In order for a divorce to take place, it must be approved through the court system. Thus an uncontested divorce is fairly simple to complete in most cases, because there is little reason for the courts to deny it or get involved in any way. However, if the divorce is contested, the court system has to step in to deal with the situation.

Issues Leading to Contested Divorces
Surprisingly, the vast majority of divorces are uncontested, despite the number of important issues that need to be resolved for a divorce to be uncontested.

One of those issues is child custody. This is one of the most emotional aspects of any marriage, so it can be one of the most likely to lead to a dispute. Of course, it’s best to try to keep the children’s best interests in mind, and in many cases that will mean doing whatever it takes to avoid a prolonged court battle. If both spouses can enter into negotiations accepting that they will have to make some compromises, it will make the whole process much easier.

Debt allocation is another important issue that must be resolved, and which can lead to a contest in court. This is a particularly big problem at the moment in light of the recent economic meltdown. In some cases a spouse may want to try to leave the other spouse with an unfair burden of debt. This can easily spark a court battle.

Property division, alimony and child support payments are other major factors that can lead to disagreements between divorcing spouses.

Why It’s Better to Avoid Contests
In general, it’s better to try to come to an uncontested plan for the divorce. There are several reasons for this.

One is the money involved in going through a court battle. If child custody is the issue at stake, you may decide it’s worth the money you may end up losing through legal fees. However, if it’s a contest over property or debt, it may not make any sense to risk a costly court battle.

Time is another important factor to take into account. Court battles can take a long time to play out – sometimes several years. It’s often not worth your time, and it can be a lot easier to simply accept a few concessions and compromises.

Stress is another factor to keep in mind. You have to weigh up whether the issue at hand is really worth the extra stress a prolonged court battle can cause, especially if you’re not particularly confident of winning a favorable outcome. See Uncontested Divorce here

SBI!