One of the things we hear asked quite often at the outset of a case is, “Am I going to have to go to court at all? And, if I do, how many times do you think I’ll have to go?”
The reality right out of the gate here is that you’ve sought to subject your marriage to the court system by seeking a divorce, so you will need to be patient with the process as a whole, as this will help to alleviate stress you may be putting on yourself to hurry up and get this done.
Divorce Hearings Take A Little Time
Bringing third parties into your world is not easy, and more often than not very frustrating. If you are hiring a lawyer to represent you, begin this process by making sure you are with counsel you feel comfortable with and trust. This is important because you will be trying to carry on in your everyday life, while this process unfolds simultaneously.
Understanding the necessity for patience and trust is important because unless you are very amicable with your wife and know how you want to settle everything, you can expect your case to push through the system at what appears to most a slow and deliberate pace.
If you are one of the fortunate men that can reasonably talk to your wife to come to an understanding, that is great; without trying to draft anything yourself, it is recommended that you continue to talk things out, organize your bullet points, and ultimately provide same to your lawyer for review and possible drafting of a marital settlement agreement.
There are other requirements here in order to facilitate this document (e.g., signed, notarized financial affidavits by both parties.), however knowing what you’ve both agreed to is likely one of the biggest hurdles to overcome in preparing a written proposal.
On the other hand, if you’re not so lucky, and you are stuck disagreeing over most things, if not everything, then you will need to be prepared for the following court dates at a minimum.
It is important to note here that unless you settle before any of the following, that even the most amicable of cases may still likely be subject to some of the below typical court events.
What To Expect From Your Divorce Process
Case Management – First, you can expect that you will be required to attend some form of case management. This is simply a meeting at the courthouse with all parties and the case manager.
Mediation – Assuming everyone has met their paperwork requirements, your next steps will then be mediation. This is a separate, and much longer, meeting between all parties and the mediator. If you don’t settle your case prior to mediation, you will have to attend this, as mediation is a requirement.
Depending on what county you are in, and whether the mediation is court appointed or private, this may or may not be at the courthouse.
The goal there is to negotiate and potentially obtain a resolution that can be put on paper. If you do not reach an agreement, then you will need to be ready to go to trial.
Trial – If the case ends up going to trial, this is your big day in front of the judge where you will seek, by and through your lawyer, to argue each of your positions on the case.
The trial court date is much longer than most and can last from a few hours to possibly a few days.
Throughout this process there are also things known as compliance reviews, which may or may not require your participation as well.
Moreover, parties could be subject to a variety of different motions that could be set for shorter hearings in front of the judge or magistrate at any time long before ever going to trial, at any point in the case.
Although there tends to be common factual overlaps in this business, each case is typically very different from the last, so in order to have a clear understanding of what you can expect in your divorce case specifically, talk to your attorney.
If you do not have an attorney helping to navigate you through this process, don’t wait, call Men’s Rights Law Firm today at 239-829-0166.
