About Divorce

Divorce is a court judgment, a legal ruling ending a marriage. Courts require a "legal reason" for the divorce and it is either due to a fault or no fault. There are seven "fault" grounds or reasons and also "no fault" grounds. The "fault" grounds, as "fault" implies, mean that one person was considered at fault in causing the marriage to end. Fault grounds are as follows and are common among all states:

1) Cruel and abusive treatment
2) Utter desertion continued for one year
3) Adultery
4) Impotency(rarely used)
5) Gross and confirmed habits of intoxication caused by voluntary and excessive use of intoxicating liquor, opium, or other drugs
6) Gross or wanton and cruel refusal or neglect to provide suitable support and maintenance for the other spouse
7) Sentence of Confinement in a Penal Institution

For No Fault there are is basically on reason irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and it depends if it because of one party or bother parties. Some States may break down the difference if necessary and if its both parties usually a joint petition for divorce is filed.

Besides the legal ending your marriage, the court looks at other issues which need to be decided before the divorce becomes final.

Some of the issues that need to be decided in a divorce judgment are:

Child Custody
Child Support
Parenting time or Child visitation, time with the children
Division of assets (for example, pensions, bank accounts or stocks)
Alimony (or support for the spouse)
Division of personal property (that is, who will get which personal property, such as the car or furniture)
Division of real property (what will happen to any real estate including the marital home)
Who gets to live in the marital home
Division of debts (for example, credit cards or electric bills)
Taking back the name you had before you got married
Possibly, an order for protection from abuse.

If these issues are not resolved by agreement of the parties, the judge decides the issues. You get a chance to present evidence that helps her decide.