Do you give advice on divorces too?

[Romersgirl]

You've always been so great with custody, could you offer some advice on getting a divorce or direct me to where I can get the info.

Married on Dec 30 2003 - separated on March 20 2004 - no kids involved so the separation time only needed to be 6 months.  My friends husband won't sign the papers to make this easy.

1.  What does my friend need to do in order to get her divorce, she's been living in her own apt since March 20 2004.  

2.  What paper work can she file to get he divorce proceedings starting with out a lawyer, she doesn't have the money.

THANKS!!

[socrateaser]

>1.  What does my friend need to do in order to get her
>divorce, she's been living in her own apt since March 20 2004.

In what State(s)/jurisdiction(s) do the parties reside?
 
>
>2.  What paper work can she file to get he divorce proceedings
>starting with out a lawyer, she doesn't have the money.

Most county courthouses have dissolution of marriage forms available for a simple "summary" divorce. Sometimes the forms are available online. If the parties to the divorce have no children, and no substantial jointly-held property (i.e., real estate, stocks, bonds, etc.) and neither party is asking for spousal support, then a judge would be likely to sign the docs over the objection of the other spouse.

Exception: some states on the East Coast, such as NY, are "at-fault" divorce jurisdictions, and in such circumstances, things can get a little more complicated. But, the State jurisdiction is key to any answer, and you haven't told me that yet.

[Romersgirl]

Both parties reside is VA.  Sorry about that.  

[socrateaser]

>Both parties reside is VA.  Sorry about that.  

Regrettably, VA is one of those few jurisdictions which has not created court-authorized forms for dissolution of marriage. There are a number of online services and software products available that purport to be able to create pleadings in the correct format, however, I can't recommend any particular product(s), and none of these solutions will assist a person whose spouse refuses to voluntarily sign a stipulated/agreed judgment of dissolution.

For that, you need to file for dissolution of marriage and ask a court to order it against the wishes of the other spouse.

I found one website of a VA attorney who has written some introductory articles on the subject, howevever I do not recommend this attorney or his work. He does briefly cover the various issues involved.

http://www.divorcesource.com/VA/DS/krause.html

So, unless you can get both spouses to agree to divorce, I'm afraid that you will need to retain legal representation and have an adversarial divorce.

[Romersgirl]

n/M