Your relationship with your spouse probably started with infatuation, and then it developed into love. You married, invested in your “life together,” and perhaps had children … and then, one of you decided to “move on.”
One of the two of you initiates the Divorce Process by filing a Complaint For Divorce in the County where one of you resides [this is actually more complicated — for more details, see N.J. Court Rule 5:7-1].
Then, if you or your spouse has been a Resident of New Jersey for at least a year before the filing of the Complaint For Divorce, a Judge can grant the Divorce. NOTE: The one-year residency requirement is not applicable if the grounds for the Divorce is Adultery.
In addition to Adultery [NJSA 2A:34-2(a)], the other grounds for Divorce are:
§ Irreconcilable Differences [NJSA 2A:34-2(i)]
§ Extreme Cruelty [NJSA 2A:34-2(c)]
§ Separation [NJSA 2A:34-2(d)]
§ Desertion [NJSA 2A:34-2(b)]
§ Habitual Drunkenness or Voluntary Addiction to Narcotic Drugs [NJSA 2A:34-2(e)]
§ Institutionalization for Mental Illness [NJSA 2A:34-2(f)]
§ Imprisonment [NJSA 2A:34-2(g)]
§ Deviant Sexual Conduct [NJSA 2A:34-2(h)]
As part of the Divorce Process, a Judge will evaluate the Evidence presented by both spouses; and then, unless the two of you are able to agree to a Settlement Agreement, the Judge will decide:
⓵ Whether to issue a Judgment Of Divorce From Bond Of Matrimony, and, the grounds for that Divorce; or, whether to issue a Judgment Of Divorce From Bed And Board;
⓶ What Assets and Liabilities are subject to Equitable Distribution; and, how they should be distributed (Equitabley, not necessarily 50%/50%) between the two spouses;
⓷ Whether Alimony (and what kind of Alimony) is appropriate; and, who is to pay that Alimony; and, for how long; and
⓸ If the two of you are joint parents of Dependent Children; who will have Legal Custody of the children; who will have Physical Custody of the children (who will be the Parent Of Primary Residence); who will pay Child Support on account of those children (and, for how long); and, the Parenting Time Schedule for both parents.
⚽ Please consider Collaborative Divorce and Divorce Mediation as alternatives to traditional Divorce Litigation.
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