You’ve signed the Collaborative Participation Agreement. You’ve had several sessions with your collaborative attorneys, financial neutrals, and child specialists. You’ve come to a complete agreement that, miraculously, you and your spouse are both actually, mostly, happy with. The assets have been divided, support has been resolved, and a custody schedule is in place. So…now what? How does the whole divorce thing happen?
The good news is, once you have gone through the collaborative process and come out the other side with a signed settlement agreement, the hard part is over. The next steps are pretty simple, and do not involve actually having to set foot in a courtroom.
First, your lawyer will prepare a simple complaint for divorce. The complaint will set forth the grounds for divorce required by Virginia statute (most likely separation for the requisite period of time) and note that the parties have a settlement agreement resolving all issues arising from the marriage. Then, your spouse’s lawyer will have the opportunity to file an answer, most likely simply admitting all facts in the complaint. One party will sign an affidavit, also prepared by his/her collaborative attorney, swearing that the parties have in fact been separated for the requisite time and desire to have the divorce entered. Last, both attorneys will prepare and sign a Final Order of Divorce incorporating all of the terms of the settlement agreement and including certain statutory notices to allow the Court to finalize the divorce.
Once all of the paperwork is done, your collaborative attorney will submit all of the paperwork to the Court for entry of the Final Order of Divorce. Once the Order is entered (meaning a judge has signed it)…you are officially divorced!
