Walk It Through: The Split
6 months apart or mutual consent, alimony weighed on self support, and a monetary award.
A pharmacist, married for years with one child, decides the marriage is over and asks what it takes to file.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One marriage and one house. Child custody, grounds arising outside the State, and family use personal property are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Absolute divorceA divorce on one of three grounds: a 6 month separation, irreconcilable differences, or mutual consent with a written settlement.
- Indefinite alimonyAlimony with no end date, when age, illness or disability means a spouse cannot reasonably make substantial progress toward self support, or the standards of living would be unconscionably disparate.
- Monetary awardA payment the court may grant after deciding what is marital property and its value, weighing each spouse's monetary and nonmonetary contributions to the family.