The decision to divorce is rarely an easy one, and in many cases the process that carries that decision through to its final execution is not an easy one, either. While not legally required, working with an experienced attorney who understands your priorities and concerns can often help to reduce unnecessary stress and remove some of the uncertainties from the divorce process. Working with an experienced Manchester, NH divorce attorney can also help ensure that you understand your rights under the law.
Naro Law PLLC offers support and guidance to divorcing spouses throughout Manchester, NH in a variety of circumstances, tailoring our approach to fit our clients’ needs. Reach out today to schedule a custom consultation to discuss your situation.
Sometimes spouses are surprised to learn that at Naro Law PLLC we handle both contested and uncontested divorce cases. The underlying assumption, usually, is that people are unlikely to need a lawyer for an uncontested divorce.
While it is certainly true that many of our divorce clients come to us seeking legal representation for what they fully expect to be a protracted legal battle as part of contested divorce litigation, it is also the case that many individuals prefer to work with an attorney experienced in Manchester, NH family law matters as they prepare for an uncontested divorce, and even when they expect the divorce to be relatively amicable.
Naro Law PLLC offers support and guidance to divorcing spouses throughout Manchester, NH in a variety of circumstances, tailoring our approach to fit our clients’ needs. Reach out today to schedule a custom consultation to discuss your situation.
Many people approaching the prospect of divorce for the first time have questions about the difference between contested vs. uncontested divorces.
Generally speaking, in most states (including Manchester, NH), a divorce is considered “uncontested” if the parties to the divorce are able to reach an agreement outside of court that addresses all of the elements that a judge in the Family Division of the Manchester, NH Judicial Branch would otherwise be required to decide, and draft a joint settlement that the parties present to the court, laying out the terms of their agreement.
The settlement will be subject to the court’s approval, but preparing the settlement outside of court is generally a faster and less expensive process than the series of motions and hearings that can be expected as part of the process for resolving the same set of issues in a contested divorce.
Regardless of whether the decisions to be addressed in the final decree are contested or uncontested, married couples who agree on the basic premise of seeking a divorce have the option to file jointly, which the New Hampshire Judicial Branch generally recommends in applicable situations because, as the Family Division points out, filing a Joint Petition for Divorce obviates the need for the spouse filing an individual petition to pay an additional fee (beyond the fee for the petition itself) to have the non-petitioning spouse (who will then become the “respondent” in the divorce case) served with notice of the petition in accordance with the Rules of Procedure applicable to family law cases.
Different forms may be used for some parts of the process, depending on whether or not the couple has any minor children together.
Besides filing motions and presenting evidence during court hearings for a contested divorce, a Manchester, NH divorce lawyer can often assist clients approaching uncontested divorces by guiding them through the sometimes complicated process of collecting all of the documents that they will need to file to comply with the state’s requirements for Mandatory Initial Disclosures.
Depending on whether the parties are or are not able to reach a settlement agreement out of court, these disclosures may be used either to support the reasonableness of the draft they submit for the court’s review or, on the other hand, to provide the basis on which each side will build arguments for their proposed terms during hearings before the judge.
Once all of the documents have been collected and reviewed, the attorney working with a client approaching a contested divorce will likely begin preparing arguments; in an uncontested divorce, the attorney may instead support his or her client by preparing an initial draft of the couple’s agreement, which the non-client spouse will then need to review before the final version can be signed and submitted jointly to the Manchester, NH family court.
While a divorce in Manchester, NH is only uncontested if the spouses are able to reach an agreement on all of the key matters that must be arranged in order for the court to grant what the state considers an “absolute” divorce (distinguished from a legal separation), there are a variety of pathways spouses can follow toward achieving that goal.
One of the most commonly employed strategies is divorce mediation. Naro Law PLLC offers support for both.
Many former partners trying to navigate a Manchester, NH divorce find themselves in mediation, whether they had planned to use this method for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) or not. Family courts in Manchester, NH can order couples who have filed for a petition for divorce without minor children to attend meditation under RSA 458:15-c for a variety of reasons, including a request from either party to the pending litigation and “the discretion of the court” (which usually means the judge thinks mediation might help the couple arrive at an agreement on at least some of their issues, thereby shortening the divorce process and potentially saving both parties on their associated expenses).
Couples who have minor children together are not eligible for court-ordered divorce mediation pursuant to RSA 458:15-c, but may instead be required to attend family mediation under RSA 461-A:7, which outlines a process very similar to that applied under 458:15-c but places special emphasis on custody rights and the negotiation of parenting responsibilities.
Once a couple is ordered to participate in court-ordered mediation, the parties will schedule a meeting with a court-approved mediator, who will typically accept preliminary statements from both sides and then, on the basis of the understanding gleaned from those statements, act as a neutral third party not to issue decisions, but to facilitate productive negotiations between the parties.
Often spouses who choose to work with professional legal representation are attended and supported throughout this negotiation by their own attorneys.
High net worth divorces can present most of the challenges typically present in a divorce between partners of average net worth, and at the same time can layer over these concerns an additional set of complicating factors involving complex assets, multiple savings and retirement accounts, beneficiary designations on trust funds, unrealized capital gains whose value may need to be estimated before Manchester’s required Financial Affidavit from each party can be completed, and potentially many other questions that are uncommon in divorces that involve fewer total assets. For high-asset couples contemplating the end of their marriage, there are two pieces of genuinely good news:
Many high net worth couples fear that – money being famous for becoming the locus of conflict in many relationships – their circumstances will lead them to have a more than usually acrimonious parting of the ways. In reality, however, it is often the case that couples who have enjoyed substantial wealth together are both financially astute and used to approaching financial matters in a practical way. While not every high net worth divorce will successfully become uncontested through the collaborative process or divorce mediation, it is very common for couples in this position to find that they are able to, streamline their divorce proceedings significantly by taking advantage of mediation processes to develop a consensus on many of the key points to be determined in their divorce. Speaking with an experienced Manchester, NH divorce lawyer may help you to assess whether this is a realistic goal in your situation.
If you are approaching divorce in Manchester, NH, your legal options will depend partly on whether you have minor children with your spouse, and partly on whether the two of you at least agree that it is time to file for divorce.
From there, the two of you will face a number of options that can lead you to mediation vs. litigation, or prompt you to consider a collaborative divorce process. Spouses who know that their divorce will involve the division of substantial, and potentially complex, assets may wish to take special care not only to work with an attorney, but to find one who is accustomed to dealing with potentially complicated financial accounts and extrapolating the long-term consequences of settlement terms – regardless of whether they expect their divorce to be uncontested vs. contested.
Call Naro Law PLLC to set up a consultation to review your personal situation.
