final divorce hearing

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2007
final divorce hearing
6
Mon, 02-25-2008 - 11:47pm
Hi, I have never been through a divorce before and I was wondering if anyone can tell me what to expect at the final divorce hearing? The divorce is being held in South Carolina. I have no attorney, I cannot afford one, so I am going it alone. My husband has an attorney. Thanks for any advice and help.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-15-2006
Tue, 02-26-2008 - 9:14am

In my case, I had a lawyer but my ex did not. Do you basically agree on everything or is it up to the judge to decide? In my case, Our final divorce hearing was basically the judge saying that he approved our agreement and we were now divorced. I did have to give a statement saying that him and I have not lived together in the past year. If you filed for the divorce you are going to have to have a witness to state that you and him have lived seperate for a year. My divorce was done in SC. Hope this helped.


Tiffany

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Tue, 02-26-2008 - 2:39pm

Court was the easy part.


Karen ~ wildlucky4me ~

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2007
Tue, 02-26-2008 - 11:17pm
Hi, thank you for your response. Sadly, my husband is the one who filed for divorce in SC. I live in Connecticut. He's trying to say that we have been seperated over a year which is not true. We breifly reconciled last year. Since I will be attending the hearing alone, without an attorney, I am a little nervous about the whole process. We've been married 32 years, he has a girlfriend living with him, etc. The usual story, he commits adultry, begs for forgiveness, then commits it again. I know in SC, once you get back together, all previous adultry is wiped out, I however have him on adultry again since he hooked up with this ex-girlfriend in August of last year without my knowledge. Thanks again, take care
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2008
Wed, 02-27-2008 - 8:40am

"I did have to give a statement saying that him and I have not lived together in the past year. If you filed for the divorce you are going to have to have a witness to state that you and him have lived seperate for a year. "


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2007
Wed, 02-27-2008 - 10:08am
Hi, since I was unable to hire an attorney, I did a lot of research on my own. I researched the divorce laws for South Carolina to find out the info that I have. I also called some attorneys in SC who very generously gave me advice over the phone, free of charge. I've also been told that I might be better off having the divorce done in SC because SC is a fault state, which means, the adultry he committed will and can be grounds for the divorce. If the divorce case is dismissed, (which many of the atorneys have told me it will be) due to jurisdiction, I can either file for divorce here in Connecticut, or just wait out the time limit and let him file again in SC. Connecticut is a no-fault state, which means they don't care or use the adultry in the case. Check out the laws for Mass., thats the best advice I can give you. Good luck
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2006
Wed, 02-27-2008 - 1:25pm

Hi there, in my case my final divorce hearing was more stress on me worrying about it than it was actually worth. I had a lawyer and he didn't. I filed. We were both with other people. It was short sweet and to the point, basically the judge goes over what your asking for, what he's asking for and gives judgment. Its all just for documentation purposes. It was like they were reading the divorce paperwork and having someone record it. It was over before I knew it......


Try not to worry too much. It will be ok :)


Hugs,


Angelena