The Best Thing To Do When You’re Served Divorce Papers
Acting callously at any point during a divorce is something that all lawyers and divorce attorneys advice against. The best thing to do when you’re being served with divorce papers is to get in touch immediately with a divorce attorney.
Divorce can be a highly emotional event between spouses. Hence, having a divorce attorney or a family lawyer fort worth to advise you on how to proceed will be a wise step to take to move forward.
If you’re in these initial stages of your divorce proceedings, below are several additional pieces of information that will be useful for you at this point.
What essentially are divorce papers?
Divorce papers are a collection of important documents that include the following:
- An court-issued official document notifying of the divorce otherwise known as a citation.
- A copy of the official petition for divorce filed by the other party.
- Supplementary documents that the petitioner also filed along with the petition.
- Orders granted by the judge at the commencement of the case.
Who is the responder? Who is the petitioner?
From our previous post, we briefly explained the divorce process in Texas. In this post, we shared that in any particular divorce cases, there will be a responder and a petitioner. Additionally, we also explained in detail the responsibilities of each party.
If you are acting as the petitioner, you are responsible for preparing the documents stated above and more importantly the divorce petition.
Being the responder, your responsibility includes providing the answer to the divorce paper being served as immediately as possible.
What’s the deadline for the responder’s answer?
In terms of deadline, you are expected to provide a response within 20 days more specifically before 10 am on the Monday after the completion of 20 days.
Can I decline the divorce papers?
You cannot decline divorce papers. Similarly, you cannot stop a divorce hearing from happening. It must be remembered that if the Judge thinks that the marriage is considered unfixable, the court may even grant a “no-fault” divorce.
What if I don’t have enough money to afford an attorney?
In occasions where either of the spouses cannot afford to pay for a divorce attorney, the judge may then request the other spouse to pay for the other spouse’s attorney’s fees. This is referred to as “interim attorney’s fees”.
However, there are certain conditions that a judge will consider to proceed with this order. The court is more likely to support this petition for interim attorney’s fees if:
- Your spouse has considerably more wealth than you
- Your spouse is already represented by an attorney
- Your divorce is going to be very complicated.
You can ask to have the request for interim attorney’s fees along with the Motion for Temporary Orders (TRO).
As we’ve reiterated earlier, it is a very good idea to consult with an expert in divorce in order to get the best information possible. Especially since, the practice for asking for interim attorney fees can vary from county to county.
How many days does it take to get divorced?
On an uncontested divorce, you can expect this process to go for 60 calendar days. In order to estimate the expected completion date of your divorce, you can start by counting from the first day that the divorce petition had been filed.
If the 60th day falls on a holiday or on a weekend, then the last day will fall on the next business day.
In several circumstances, the 60 day waiting period may not be necessary. According to Texas Family Code Chapter 6, section 6.702, these cases include the below situations:
- The 60-day waiting period is waived if the responding spouse has been convicted of a crime that involves family violence against the petitioner or a member of the petitioner’s household.
- If the petitioning spouse has an active protective order against the responding spouse due to family violence during the marriage, the 60-day waiting period will be waived.
Do we have to be separated to begin our divorce?
No, absolutely not. The only requirement to begin your divorce are all of the forms that need to be prepared, starting from the petition for divorce.
Contact a Divorce Attorney in Fort Worth, Texas
Being served official divorce papers is not something that should make you feel intimidated nor does it have to make you feel scared. That said, any form of legal summons should be approached with rationality.
Calling a Divorce Attorney Fort Worth TX to help you approach divorce papers is the best decision to take. This will not only provide you with the most accurate information regarding your divorce, having a divorce attorney will make it easier to approach the case with the rationality needed to propel your case forward.
Did you receive divorce papers and don’t know how to respond? Let Turner-Monahan help you with your case today.
