Divorce 101 - Basic Questions
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Divorce 101 - Basic Questions
| Sat, 11-05-2005 - 10:54pm |
I have decided to file for divorce after 12 yrs of marriage and repeated adultery on his part, so I am doing my homework so that I am informed. I appreciate if you can assist with any of the following questions.
1) Once I file for divorce can he still live in the house or do we legally have to be living seperately? I anticipate that this will be an amicable divorce and I want to minimize the impact on the children.
2) Are there advantages to me filing first? This is a divorce based on repeated adultery.
3) I live in NJ. What is the average time from filing divorce to completion.
4) What other basics steps should I be aware of.
Thanks for any information that you are willing and able to share.

Hi -- I don't know how much help I'll be to you as i am very early in the divorce process also.
Each state has different divorce laws, so hopefully someone on here will be from NJ and can give you more advice as to what your state laws/advantages to filing first, etc.
My husband and I are living in the same house until the divorce is final. I filed first. I honestly do not know if that gives the woman an advantage or not, although I feel more "free" since I filed first.
I hope some of the girls (or guys) on here can give you some sound advice.
We're all in this together. If you want to chat more, give me a holler!
When we were divorcing he still lived in the house, but the judge told him that he had to go in order for us to figure out a plan regarding our children and custody. He stated we didn't know what was going to work or not based on the fact that we weren't implementing a plan. He had already decided that I'd get the house and he'd get the land so there was no buy out to deal with.
As far as who files first, I don't think there is an advantage or disadvantage and I don't think grounds of adultery will effect it since most states are "no fault" states.
I'm in New England area and the divorce was filed in December and finalized by April and would have been done sooner had my ex put more thought into the living situation and our custody agreement. 4 months is pretty good.
I used http://www.divorcenet.com/ as a reference because it lists all states and their laws. Until you talk to a lawyer this may be helppul to you.
Good luck and well wishes to you.
Ali