If you are having a hard time in your marriage, you might be considering divorce. Yet, you may dread the thought of making things even more complicated and wonder how bad divorce will be and how soon things will get better.
There is no easy answer to how complicated ending your marriage will be. It depends on several factors, such as if you have kids and what assets you own. Most of all, it depends on the willingness of you and your spouse to work together to find solutions.
What is an uncontested divorce?
Massachusetts offers you two ways to settle matters. You can get a contested divorce, where you take issues to a judge to determine. Or you can choose the easier way, which is an uncontested divorce. To do this requires a considerable amount of cooperation between you and your spouse. You need to agree on how you will settle all the issues that divorce raises. For example, who gets what property? How will you split time with the kids, and what, if any, payments one of you must make to the other.
If you can do that, then you create a separation agreement detailing the arrangements you both accept. You can then sign it and take it to a judge. Provided that there is nothing illegal or anything that seems so one-sided or indicates foul play, they can sign it off and proceed to end your marriage.
Choosing an uncontested divorce is one way to make divorce easier. To use it, you need to have reliable information about the relevant laws and your legal rights. Once you have it, you can push for the outcome you are entitled to and avoid ceding too much unnecessary ground.