Success Mediation: Divorce Mediation and Family Law Attorney in Waterbury, Hartford, Bridgeport, and New Haven, CT

There are three ways to end your marriage in Connecticut. Divorce (or Dissolution), Legal Separation, and Annulment. The most common is divorce. That is where the couple decides that they want to end the marriage because they have irreconcilable differences (fancy way of saying they can’t get along) or one or both spouses have committed one of the grounds for divorce. We’ll get into those in another blog. The process begins by one spouse filing a summons and complaint asking for a divorce. In addition to ending the marriage the couple asks the court to address other issues including dividing any assets, debts, figuring out alimony, parenting time and custody. You know, the fun stuff! The divorce can be finalized by the couple coming to an agreement known as an uncontested divorce or if they can’t agree on any or all of the divorce issues then they go to trial and the judge will divorce them after hearing both sides at the trial and issue a judgment addressing those unresolved divorce issues. If the couple meets certain requirements (married less than 9 years, no children, no retirement or pensions, no real estate) then they can get divorced quicker by filing a Non-adversarial divorce which requires the filing of some documents prepared jointly by the couple, filed with the court and if acceptable ruled on by the court resulting in a divorce in about 35 days without the couple having to go before a judge. Legal separation is the same as a divorce except that when it’s over the couple are still legally married. But the couple or court can deal with all of the issues that are addressed in a divorce. After the legal separation is granted the coupled can come back to court later to convert the legal separation to a dissolution of marriage. Finally, a (civil) annulment is the process by which a marriage is recognized by a state court as being void or voidable due to some statutory or common law ground at the time of marriage. A marriage can be annulled in Connecticut for a number of reasons, including: Blood relation: Marriages between close relatives, such as siblings, parents and children, or stepparents and stepchildren, are not legal Bigamy: Marrying someone while already married to another person is illegal Age: A marriage is invalid if one spouse was under the age of consent Mental incompetence: One or both spouses must have the mental capacity to consent to the marriage Health issues: If one spouse fails to disclose a relevant health issue, such as impotence, before the wedding Fraud or duress: If one spouse was tricked or coerced into the marriage Legal defects: If the marriage ceremony was performed by someone who was not authorized or the couple did not have a valid marriage license Concealment: If one spouse conceals a significant aspect of their identity, such as a prior marriage or criminal history Unlike a divorce or legal separation where you don’t have to assert or prove any grounds for divorce, for the court to grant the annulment one spouse has to allege and prove one or more of the statutory or common law grounds. Couples can also get a religious annulment but that has no legal authority to terminate the marriage. We can discuss which option is best depending on your circumstances and goals, and help you through each process. Please contact us to scheduled a consultation to discuss your situation. 

So you and your spouse have made the tough decision that you want to get divorced, but that’s all that you’ve decided (because now you’re not speaking to each other). You’re proactive so you look into some options to get divorced and you come across a handsome attorney’s website that offers divorce mediation. After checking out the website you think divorce mediation will be the best option for you and your spouse. You tell your spouse that you want to set up a consultation for the two of you, but your spouse doesn’t want to come or participate. Now what? It’s definitely preferred that both spouses attend the initial consultation so they can both get an idea of the process, meet the mediator, and have enough information to jointly decide if divorce mediation is right for them. The mediator also needs to evaluate both parties. So in order for the divorce mediation to proceed both parties have to be on board. But, I have had situations where only one spouse attends the initial consultation. It’s not the end of the world. In those instances, the information that is provided during the consultation is relayed to the other spouse and I’ve also let them know that if they have any questions they can reach out to me directly to help them make a decision. Ultimately, if your spouse doesn’t want to participate in the divorce mediation, but you still want to get divorced then one spouse would need to file for the divorce with the court to start the divorce case. From there they have a couple of options: (1) they can represent themselves, (2)hire an attorney, or (3) get limited scope representation. Limited Scope Representation involves the attorney acting like a coach and consultant helping one spouse through each step in the divorce process that they agree to have the attorney help them with. It can be as little as preparing the paperwork to file with the divorce to start the divorce, and/or include preparing and responding to discovery, completing financial affidavits, filing motions for orders, prepping for hearings, and prepping for the final trial, or preparing the final agreement if the couple settle. Our office offers limited scope representation for spouses who are representing themselves but still need some help from an attorney. The Limited Scope Representation model is a great option for controlling the costs associated with a contested divorce. If you are considering alternatives to going it alone and representing yourself, then please give us a call to discuss how Limited Scope Representation can help you navigate the divorce process.