A marriage is said to be legally terminated by virtue of a legal document called a divorce record. This is a court document that contains the reason for the divorce as well as the settlement agreements.
Through the divorce record, each spouse obtains full legal protection of his or her interests. In addition, the assets the couple has acquired during their married are divided. The document also stipulates if there are any spousal support payments and child support payments.
Every state has its specific divorce process to follow. However, in general, the process is initiated by either the husband or the wife by filing a lawsuit and petitioning the court for divorce. The person who files the petition is called the petitioner and the other spouse is referred to as the respondent. With an attorney’s assistance, the petitioner declares his or her demands out of the divorce. The respondent is provided a specific period of time to respond to the petition. If the respondent does not respond to the petition for divorce in a punctual manner, the court grants the petitioner the divorce that he or she requested together with all of his or her demands.
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However, divorce proceedings or litigation occurs when the respondent contests the divorce or if he or she disputes the settlement agreement. In litigation, the two parties negotiate in order to reach a mutual decision. If the two parties cannot agree on the terms of the divorce, the case is put on trial and the judge makes the final decision.
When a final settlement is made, the assigned judge makes, files, and signs the final divorce decree. This decree serves as a public record of the terms of the divorce.
Information That Can Be Found in a Divorce Record
A divorce record contains basic information such as the full legal names of the petitioner and the respondent, the filing date of the divorce, the place where the petitioner filed the divorce and the date when the divorce was granted. Other information that a divorce record may include are the petitioner and respondent’s credit card balance information, debt disclosures, the assets and how these assets are divided, income tax returns, calculations and arrangements for spousal and/or child support payments.
The Importance of Divorce Records
Generally, divorce records are considered as public records. Thus, it can be easily accessed by the public. However, there is an exception and that is if a court order has declared the divorce decree confidential.
There are numerous instances wherein divorce records are useful. Some of the uses for divorce records are to verify if an individual is legally divorced, to know if a person has been married before, to be able to locate a person, to discover prior cases of spousal abuse, and to find out if a person has a history of illegal acts.
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Nowadays, public records like divorce records are made available online. They become accessible with the assistance of companies that specializes in background checking. You also have the option to undertake the search on your own to be able to save money.
