Divorce

Marriage is a civil contract that the state has an interest in preserving. Accordingly, the marriage relationship may be dissolved only as provided by law through:
(1) A Divorce; or
(2) An Annulment; or
(3) altered by a Decree of Separate Maintenance granted by our courts.
(4) There is no such thing as a "Common Law Divorce".

Mr. Casey limits his Divorce practice to only (1) Divorce. In any case, there must be a proceeding in the superior court of the county in which the defendant resides (or the county where the parties resided during the marriage if the defendant left the county within six months before filing) and the person seeking the divorce must prove grounds for divorce (valid reasons prescribed by law).

What Kind of Grounds are there for Divorce? In Georgia there are 13 grounds for divorce. The most common ground is "Irretrievably Broken" (sometimes referred to as the "No-Fault ground"). There's about 4 or 5 that concern the ability to enter into that civil contract of marriage, which could lead to an annulment (i.e. too youmg, mental infirment, and so forth). The other 6 or 7 grounds are fault grounds (i.e. adultry, cruel treatment and so forth).

What is a "No-Fault" Divorce? To obtain a divorce on this basis (irretrievably broken), one party must establish that he or she refuses to live with the other spouse and that there is no hope of reconciliation. Also, it is not necessary to show that there was any fault or wrongdoing by either party.

Usually the parties agree that they other is not a bad person, they just can't live with each other any more. Papers are drawn up, signed and filed. After waiting at least 31 days, a hearing is scheduled where one party goes before a judge (depending on the county) and answers some very simple questions ("Testifying") and the Divorce is granted.

The key element here is that both parties agree to everything! It cannot be a tituation where "That will be figured out later". If thre is one thing that is disagreed to or not addressed, you are in a "Contested Divorce".

Click here for "Uncontested Divorce Walkthrough""

What is a "Contested Divorce"? This is where you cannot agree to one or more items. While the discussion will usually be couched in terms like "Fair" and "Best Interest", it is usually financial in nature. You may agree that you both want the divorce, who gets the house, who gets which car, the furniture and even the kids. Yet, when it comes to money there's a whole different storey. This could be Child Support, Retirement Accounts, Credit Cards, Alimony and so forth. You have one vision but your spouse has another. The only way to resolve this is through as Contested Divorce.

How does One File for Divorce? It starts by filing a "Petition for Divorce" and other documents. Those other documents will be dependent on whether you are filing a Contested or Uncontested (No-Fault) Divorce. Each require different documents, while they can be similar and my cross over, they are diffenent in the beginnig.

Click here for "Contested Divorce Walkthrough""

Call Today don't try to go it alone or expect your spouse to not take advantage of you, call for an appointment to discuss your matter.