What is a No Contest Divorce and Why is There no Court
What is a no contest divorce and why is it done without any court? A no contest divorce in Alabama is also known as an uncontested divorce. An uncontested divorce is when two spouses decide that they want to get a divorce and they both come to some form of an agreement as to their marital dissolution. Since the couple has already come to a basic agreement that they both want the divorce, there are generally less issues to litigate, therefore uncontested divorces are usually much cheaper and quicker than a contested divorce. Uncontested divorces are mostly just paperwork that you will work through with your divorce attorney and then file with the court in the county in which you reside. With many divorce attorneys in Birmingham, you will not even have to come into the office for a face to face meeting in order to file for an uncontested divorce. There is also an option that many divorce attorneys offer to file your divorce completely online.
Generally an uncontested divorce in Alabama will take anywhere from about six to ten weeks once everything has been filed and signed by you and your spouse and filed with the court. However, you can usually have a final divorce decree in four to five weeks if everything is signed and filed in a timely order with the court. In contrast, contested divorces can take anywhere from a few months to a couple years to be complete. This is largely due to the many costly and time consuming stages that the parties must go through in a contested divorce including the court involvement in the divorce.
Many divorce attorneys in Anniston, Alabama may offer a flat rate for an uncontested divorce. This is due to the fact that there is a sense of predictability in uncontested divorces. The attorneys know the process very well and are able to anticipate the timeline and the amount of work that must be done to complete the divorce. This is much different than contested divorces where there is a major sense of unpredictability. When spouses are unable to reach an agreement and decide to go through with a contested divorce, there is generally no flat fee charged by attorneys. Instead, attorneys in a contested divorce will often charge you a retainer up front and bill out of that retainer at an hourly rate which can become very costly.
With a no contest online divorce, parties will generally not have to go to court to resolve their marital dissolution. This is because with a contested divorce, the parties have already come to an agreement together, therefore there is no need for the parties to go to court to let a judge decide how assets will be divided.
Attorney Steven A. Harris regularly blogs in the areas of family law, bankruptcy, probate, and real estate closings on this website. Mr. Harris tries to provide informative information to the public in easily digestible formats. Hopefully you enjoyed this article and feel free to supply feedback. We appreciate our readers & love to hear from you!
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