Divorce
Steps
File
a Complaint for Divorce
The
first step is to file a Complaint for Divorce. The Complaint states the basic
facts about the parties, such as names of the parties and their minor children,
the dates of marriage and separation and the grounds for divorce. The Complaint
must also state that the party filing the Complaint has lived in Michigan for
180 days and in the county in which they are filing for 10 days.
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| Ex
Parte Orders
Along
with the Complaint, Ex Parte Orders can be entered. Ex Parte Orders are orders
entered by the court based solely on the allegations of the spouse who files the
Complaint. The orders remain in effect only if the Defendant fails to file objections
within 14 days. Ex Parte Orders are used to establish temporary custody, child
support, parenting time and other issues related to the children. Ex Parte Orders
can also be used to prevent the parties from dissipating assets, or compelling
the parties to continue contributing to the maintenance of the marital home.
| | Acknowledgment
of Service
| After
the Complaint is filed, it must be served on the spouse, along with any Ex Parte
Orders. The spouse can sign an "Acknowledgment of Service" or a process
server can be hired to serve the spouse with the Complaint. In an amicable divorce,
I encourage my clients to have their spouse sign an Acknowledgment of Service.
Being served with divorce papers by a process server can frequently be viewed
as an unintentional hostile act and I prefer to use this method only when a spouse
is uncooperative or the situation is not amicable.
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| Answer
with the Court
Once
the Complaint is served upon the spouse, he or she has 21 days to file an Answer
with the court. An Answer consists of admitting or denying the allegations in
the Complaint. If the spouse fails to file an Answer, he or she will be in Default
and will not have standing to contest any of the issues in the divorce. However,
most Judges prefer to have both parties sign the Judgment, if possible, to demonstrate
the Judgment was reached by agreement of the parties.
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| Discovery
The
next step is Discovery. In Michigan, the courts require full disclosure of the
parties' assets. Each party is required to disclose all of their assets, usually
through Interrogatories (written questions) or depositions (a meeting in which
the attorneys can ask questions face to face). The parties can also use subpoenas
to obtain wage and pension information from employers and to obtain financial
information from banks or investment firms. If a party intentionally fails to
disclose an asset in a divorce, the Judge can award that entire asset to the opposing
party, even if the asset is discovered after the Judgment has been entered and
the divorce is final.
| | During
and after Discovery
| During
and after Discovery, the parties will attempt to reach a settlement. If a settlement
cannot be reached, the Judge will usually recommend the services of a mediator
(someone who works with the parties to try and reach a compromise) or an arbitrator
(someone who will decide any unresolved issues).
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| Judgment
of Divorce
Once
the parties reach an agreement, the attorneys will draft a Judgment of Divorce,
which will contain all of the provisions the parties agreed upon. One of the parties
will be required to attend a brief court hearing in which the person will testify
regarding the allegations in the divorce and to the terms of the Judgment. Once
the Judgment of Divorce is signed by the Judge, the parties are divorced.
| | Qualified
Domestic Relations Order
Retirement
Benefits. However, if either party has retirement benefits in the form of a traditional
defined pension, 401K or other type of retirement plan, Federal law requires a
separate document called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). These documents
are frequently entered after the Judgment of Divorce has been entered. Unfortunately,
each pension plan administrator has their own language that they require in a
QDRO. Therefore, the process of having the parties agree on the language of the
QDRO and having the language approved by the plan administrator can be difficult.
Therefore, I prefer to hire a QDRO expert to prepare QDROs in my cases. However,
I continue to work with my clients until the QDROs are entered by the court and
all issues remaining in the divorce are resolved.
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