Connecticut Divorce Procedures

From 1st July 2009 onwards, the following expenses have been revised.

• 25 USD per party for a Certified Copy of Decree
• 125 USD per party for Parenting Education Class
• 30 to 50 USD for Sheriff's Fee – unless waived
• 300 USD for Court Filing Fee

The divorce procedure is initiated when one divorcing partner files a Petition as well as a Summons. The Petition consists of information regarding the grounds of the divorce and how the Petitioner would desire to manage issues like alimony, child custody, distribution of property etc. The venue of filing the Petition is the local state courthouse.

The next step is to serve the Respondent with a copy of the Summons along with supporting documents that are related to the jointly owned property of the couple and all types of obligations concerning this property like debts and income.

The proof of service is filed in the court. From the date on which this proof is filed, a cooling off period of 90 days exists during which no divorce process can be undertaken.

It is expected that the Respondent should file the response by the date mentioned in he Petition. The Response can be one of the following.

• Objection to the terms of the divorce
• Objection to the grounds of the divorce
• A consent to the divorce

Automatic Restraining Orders in Connecticut Divorce Procedure

When a Complaint for Divorce is issued, automatic restraining orders are made mandatory on the Plaintiff. After these divorce papers are served to the Respondent, these orders are made compulsory for this person also.

The intention of these orders is that during the cooling off period, the divorcing partners should not execute any steps, like raiding the other partner's assets, with an aim that when the divorce becomes final the other partner is placed at a disadvantage.

The other aim of these restraining orders is to prohibit the divorcing partners from the following actions.

• Relocating children
• Altering life insurance beneficiaries
• Mortgaging or selling property
• Incurring major expenses
• Withdrawing huge amounts of funds

Collaborative Divorce Procedure

Collaborative Divorce means that the divorcing partners along with their respective lawyers determine to solve all their divorce issues by negotiations without intimidating to initialize or actually initializing exorbitant court lawsuits. The informal methods of this type of divorce are negotiation, four way conferences, voluntary production of financial documents and if required assistance of outside professionals like family counselors, financial planners and accountants.

• The divorcing partners and their attorneys accede to embark on the route of collaborative divorce and sign a collaborative case representation agreement
• As per the above mentioned agreement, any one divorcing partner is named as the Plaintiff
• The lawyer of the Plaintiff drafts the pro se paperwork for the divorce
• The filing of the case is done
• The divorcing partners exchange financial and other data and take part in meetings and negotiations with an intent of resolving all issues in conflict
• While the divorce is pending, motions are not argued or filed in the court
• There is a voluntary disclosure of financial data and for this there is no need of depositions, subpoenas or discovery motions
• If it is felt essential, the divorcing partners hire the services of a specialist to overcome complicated topics like customized parenting plans, tax planning and business valuations
• The final step is that all the agreements are produced in written form in a way that is acceptable to the court
• The required paperwork and agreement are presented to the court for approval during the final uncontested hearing

Divorce Papers