Divorce Papers – A Guide to the Divorce Papers You Must Use to File for a Divorce

If your marriage has reached the end of the road and you are ready for a divorce there are several steps you will need to take to make sure that you file for your divorce in the proper legal way.

To start the proceedings there a few divorce papers that you are going to need. Each of which is equally important although you may not need all of them depending on whether or not there are any children involved.

The Petition for Divorce is the most important paper you will need. While there is not actually a particular standard form for this that is required by the court, there is a law that states what information it must contain and how it should be laid out to make the petition easy to read and understand.

The first 10 paragraphs (11 if your divorce is using the 5 years of separation as the reason) are used to provide the basic information about who is requesting the divorce along with the name of the respondent. These paragraphs also list information such as addresses of both parties and any other pertinent information.

All of the information on these divorce papers must be absolutely correct or you may have to re-file a new set in order for the court to consider your petition. In the next paragraph you will list the reasons for the petition and if it is your spouse who is filing they may or may not be the exact truth. You should consult with your lawyer to see what if any impact the allegations will have on any divorce financial issues.

At the end of the petition is a section that always starts out with the phrase "The petitioner therefore prays…." This is where any and all financial claims are made, realize though that all petitions have this and the petitioner may not actually be seeking any financial claims. Even though there may be no financial claims being made the court must first dismiss any claims before the divorce can proceed. If there are any real financial claims being made they will added on using separate ancillary forms that the judge will attend to later in the proceedings.

Divorce Costs

The divorce papers may also include a claim for costs to be paid, which the court will only order to be paid in the cases of adultery, unacceptable behavior or desertion. If the divorce is based on separation then the person who filed for the divorce will have to pay the costs. The person who is on the receiving end of the divorce must also be given a copy of the divorce papers so that they have a chance to review the reasons for the divorce and so that they can retain the services of an attorney.

There are many places online that you can go to download the divorce papers you need to file your divorce. Not only will you find a standardized Divorce Petition that is set up to make it easy to complete and make sure that you get all of the information required filled out for the court, but you can find copies of the Statement of Arrangements for Children if there are children involved. These forms are perfectly acceptable in a court of law and can save you a little bit of money when you are filing for a divorce.

Sadly it is possible to also download fake divorce papers that can be used for malicious purposes such as fooling a lover into thinking you are single and taking advantage of the person. Or in some cases fake papers have been used for financial gain such as the proceeds from the sale of a house even though the person may still be married.

To make sure that the divorce papers you fill out or receive are legal you should always consult with a lawyer or at the very least check with the court in the appropriate jurisdiction to make sure everything is legal and above board. Getting divorced can be hard enough, but not using the right paperwork can turn it into a nightmare.