Divorce or Marriage Dissolution

 Posted on September 06, 2013 in Family Law

Usually when a marriage ends, people call it a divorce, but there is actually another option to take when ending a marriage. A couple can also legally end their marriage with a dissolution. With an annulment, on the other hand, it's as if the marriage never happened in the first place.

In both a divorce and a marriage dissolution, a court judge legally ends the marriage with a formal judicial decree. The difference in divorce and marriage dissolution, however, is that in a dissolution of a marriage, the two spouses choose to end the marriage mutually and agree on how to divide assets. In divorce, one spouse chooses to divorce the other and there are often arguments over assets, children and other important parts of the marriage.

If you and your spouse have chosen to dissolve your marriage, you must file a joint petition to the court. The petition must also be accompanied by a plan for dividing marital assets, proving that you agree on the division. After the required length of time for a waiting period, the petition will be reviewed by a judge. The judge will double-check everything, then end the marriage completely.

If you choose to get a divorce, however, you can file in the court individually, and your spouse will be served with divorce papers. A temporary hearing can be set to decide spousal support and child custody until the final ruling at the real divorce hearing. At the final hearing, both of those factors will be resolved, along with division of marital assets and visitation.

Sometimes states have certain requirements that must be met in order to file for a dissolution rather than a divorce, such as not having young children or not having shared property. Other requirements may include not being allowed to allege domestic abuse and having a small or no debt.

If you are considering filing for a dissolution of your marriage or a traditional divorce, contact Mevorah & Giglio Law Offices in Lombard, Bloomingdale, and Naperville, Illinois. Our divorce attorneys can help you be sure that you qualify for dissolution or that you file correctly today.