Do I Have to Go to Court for My Divorce?

The simple answer is “yes”, because even if you are able to resolve all of the issues incident to the ending of the marriage by agreement and outside of the formal Court process (i.e.: through the Collaborative Divorce Process, Mediation, or negotiating with the other spouse and/or his/her attorney), it is still necessary to proceed through a formal Court proceeding to have a marriage legally and formally terminated. In the event that the spouses have worked out all terms incident to the ending of their marriage by agreement, and then reduce those agreements to the appropriate formal written documents, a Petition for Dissolution would be prepared and filed with the Court, along with the formal written Agreements that the parties have entered into setting forth the manner in which all of the issues incident to the ending of the marriage are going to be resolved. Although this process does require a formal Court appearance by both parties, the in-Court proceeding takes only about five minutes.