Making the decision to divorce your spouse is incredibly disheartening, and navigating the divorce case only adds to a person’s misery.
For many people, separation is already painful enough, but with the added meetings for court proceedings, it becomes even more painful to see their spouse on these occasions.
Plus, many people look towards cheaper alternatives and less stressful divorce proceedings.
Online divorce services are the perfect solution for this.
With an online divorce, you’ll be able to control the complexities of the process from the comfort of your home and keep your post-divorce relationship and finances intact.
What Is An Online Divorce?
Online divorce is filed when both spouses are seeking an uncontested divorce case.
This is when both individuals make a mutual decision for separation, division of assets, community property, alimony, custody, co-parenting, and child support issues, if applicable.
An online divorce service will walk you through the steps of filing for a divorce.
These steps can include preparing the divorce papers draft, drafting a divorce settlement agreement, and finally filing the divorce paperwork with the court.
These services will make the entire procedure much easier for you because you will not be left with queries that you are unsure how to answer.
Some services will even file your papers for you for an additional fee.
How To File For Divorce Online?
After you and your spouse have decided to go for an online divorce process to avoid the hassle of court, you’ll need to follow these steps to file your divorce online.
- Sign up for an account on the website of an online divorce service. Based on a few questions, the service will determine if you and your spouse are eligible for an online divorce.
- Once you’re done signing up, gather the necessary information for your divorce paperwork, this can include your financial situation, property division, and any children you have together. Entering this information takes about an hour if you have all the data ready. Note that it’s compulsory to enter this information in detail for the judge to review even if you and your spouse have decided how to divide everything.
- After you’ve completed and reviewed your information, the online divorce service will generate the forms you need to complete your divorce. This should include a marital settlement agreement as well as the other necessary paperwork.
- Once you’ve got the forms, sign them electronically, or by hand and file them with an appropriate court. Next, you need to serve your spouse with the divorce papers just like in a regular divorce process.
- Wait patiently for the judicial review to be completed and the divorce to be finalized by the relevant authorities.
Things You Should Know
While an online divorce is not as complicated as a traditional one, there are still some factors you need to consider.
Here are some things you should know when filing an online divorce.
- Division Of Assets
Assets are items you own that have an associated value in cash, i.e., they can be converted to cash by selling them.
Your assets can include any properties, investments, savings, or personal items.
You don’t necessarily have to list every personal item you own, for example, you don’t have to mention clothing items as it should be obvious that clothes would go to the individual using them.
However, there’s no hard and fast rule for what you can and can’t do.
- Debt Management
In this day and age, most people are constantly paying debts and loans for one reason or another. Common debts that people face can include:
- Property mortgages.
- Automobile or car loans
- Credit card debt
- Student loans
Even if you’re opting for an online divorce, that doesn’t remove you from managing the debt with your spouse.
It’s good to fill out the debt and asset management forms together instead of just one person doing it.
- Pros Vs. Cons
Online divorce certainly sounds like the better option for people who want to go for an uncontested divorce.
Benefits include lower costs, no need to hire a lawyer, all your paperwork and data will be backed up so there’s no chance to lose it.
When choosing a suitable divorce service, Divorce Answers recommends that you consider the facilities provided by each service and then compare their budget to make your decision.
The cons of an online divorce service are that you will need to fill the paperwork extremely carefully to not risk getting your case rejected.
Plus there’s no emotional support during an online divorce.
- Length Of The Process
There are several factors that impact the length of the online divorce process. Mainly, these factors include state laws, waiting periods, cash and debt management, whether or not you have children, etc.
With everything shifting online, it has definitely been easier to go through long, complicated processes from the comfort of your home.
Online divorce services are completely legal, and even a reasonable option when your divorce is uncontested.
However, keep in mind the technicalities that come with the online divorce process and ensure you’re making the correct choice.