Temporary Orders

In most cases in the divorce process, a temporary order acts in a similar way as a short term divorce decree. They are considered guidelines that are legally binding by both parties in the marriage until the divorce court rules on the final divorce decree. Some of the things that are generally specified in the temporary order are who lives in the house, who gets access to bank accounts, and who has custody of the children.

Temporary orders are commonly used when both parties in the divorce disagree on child custody issues. In these cases it is important to obtain a divorce attorney to aid in drawing up a temporary order during the divorce process.

Legal Separation Basics

There are many ways that people refer to legal separation, including divorce from bed-and-board, judicial separation, divorce a mensa et thoro, and separate maintenance. Basically, it is a way to stay legally married with a formalized de facto separation. In many situations a married couple has certain moral or religious objections to filing for divorce, and in these cases obtaining a legal separation is a good alternative.

Similar to getting a divorce, the separation agreement may address issues such as child support, child visitation, child custody, alimony, and division of assets and debts.

Most states recognize legal separation. The following are the only states that do NOT recognize legal separation: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

Tax Consequences of Alimony

As Defined in Section 71 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, it is mandatory that alimony (spousal support) is included in the recipient’s gross income. On the other hand, the payer is able to exclude it from gross income. In order for the payments made to qualify as alimony, the following must be met:

- Must be in a form of cash payment (cash, check, money order)
- The payment is made and received as a result of a divorce or other separation instrument
- The separation instrument does not specifically mention that the payments are for alimony
- Both the person receiving and paying the alimony payments are living in the same household
- In the event that the recipient dies, there is no liability to make payments

At Fault Divorce

A tradition that required one spouse to prove that the other spouse was legally at fault, to obtain a divorce. The innocent spouse was then granted the divorce from the guilty spouse. Today, 35 states still allow a spouse to allege fault in obtaining a divorce. The traditional fault grounds for divorce are adultery, cruelty, desertion, confinement in prison, physical incapacity and incurable insanity. These grounds are also generally referred to as marital misconduct.

Here are several states that allow for at-fault divorce:

Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, and Texas.

For a complete list of states that allow for at-fault divorce please visit http://divorcelawinfo.com/Pages/grounds.html.

No Fault Divorce

No-fault divorce is a divorce in which the dissolution of a marriage requires neither a showing of wrong-doing of either party nor any evidentiary proceedings at all. Laws providing for no-fault divorce allow a family court to grant a divorce in response to a petition by either party to the marriage, without requiring the petitioner to provide evidence that the respondent has committed a breach of the marital contract. Laws providing for no-fault divorce also limit the potential legal defenses of a respondent who would prefer to remain married.

Interrogatories

Interrogatories (Requests for Further Information) are often used in the divorce process as written questions dealing with legal or factual contentions. These requests for further information are asked by one of the parties in the divorce, and are required to be answered by the other party.

The purpose of interrogatories are to add clarity to the matters of evidence before the divorce proceedings go to trial in the court case. Generally these proceedings are used to determine background information about the two parties that are not always specific to the divorce case. Many times this is accomplished by using a standard questionaire relevent to the type of case, which are called form interrogatories.

Depositions

A deposition is a generic legal term that refers to written or oral questions.

Written Depositions

In a written deposition, a document consisting of written questions (interrogatories) is prepared by counsel and given to the accused to answer accordingly. A written deposition may only be used when the deponent is present at the deposition, or if the accused has waived his right to be present at the deposition.

Oral Depositions

In an oral deposition, a document is drawn up that consists of questions that are asked of the accused and the answers supplied by the deponent. In the question and answer procedure, a deposition officer, the accused counsel, the government counsel, the accused, and a reporter must be present for it to be valid.

Request for Disclosure

Request for disclosure is one aspect of the divorce discovery process. The purpose is to “discover” all relevant information about each party in the divorce.

Original Petition for Divorce

The original petition for divorce (known as a letter of complaint in some states), is the document that initiates the divorce process when filed with the court clerk. In starting the divorce, the original petition for divorce requests that the court grant the termination of marriage and will list the relief that each of the parties involced feels they deserve.

To begin with, the letter of complaint identifies all of the parties in the dissolution of marriage, and also lists out the children involved. The one who is initiating the divorce will supply a reason. Generally, in no-fault divorces this will end up being irreconcilable differences.

The term for the spouse that is filing for divorce is the petitioner, and the other spouse is referred to as the respondent, or defendant.

Divorce Decree

The final decree of divorce is one of the last things that happens in the divorce process. It is the court’s formal order that grants the termination of marriage. The signing and dating of the divorce decree by the judge and court clerk may also confirm a judgment in the case.

The five aspects usually covered in a divorce decree are:

• Alimony
• Property Division
• Child Custody
• Child Visitation
• Child Support

When the decree is completed, it will be archived in the vital records office that is located in the county where you filed for divorce.