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The Process of Getting a Divorce in Ohio

Jim Robenalt Dec. 13, 2023

Did you know that as many as 50% of marriages in the United States alone end in divorce? Divorce can be a complicated and stressful thing to deal with, especially if you’ve never gone through one before or know what to expect. However, Ohio divorce doesn’t have to be complicated as long as you research the topic and know what to expect. 

Once you learn more about the divorce process and divorce mediation and get a good divorce attorney to represent you, you will find that the process will become much smoother. Keep reading and learn more about the process of getting a divorce in Ohio and what you can do to make it simpler. 

What You Need To Know About Divorce

The process of getting a divorce involves getting all the right paperwork in order and understanding what you’re getting yourself in for. To start, you should know what kind of elements or regulations might affect the process of getting divorced. For example, to get a divorce while following Ohio divorce laws, you will need to make sure that your spouse, if he or she is a foreigner, has lived within the United States for 90 days or longer. 

This is only one of many rules and regulations you will need to follow when filing for a divorce. Another important rule is that, in most cases, you won’t be able to file for divorce if you are pregnant. This is also true if it is your spouse is the one who is pregnant. 

To get a divorce, you would need to wait until that baby is born. Only then would you be able to go through your divorce and finalize it. Also, you will need to make sure that you have lived in the state of Ohio for 6 months, if not longer. 

The Details

This is also true for your spouse. As long as you have all that out of the way, you shouldn’t have too much trouble filing for a divorce. Keep in mind that if you separate your time between different countries, it is not always necessary to file for a divorce in the United States. 

Instead, you could file in one of the other countries in which you live. Once you confirm all that information, it will be time to get to the paperwork. This part of the divorce can be quite stressful since you will need to fill out quite a lot of paperwork which requires you to list all sorts of information about you and your spouse.

For example, many of the forms will require you to list information about your income, where you live, what kind of financial debts you have, and so on. It is important to fill out these forms as accurately as possible. If not, then you may get into legal trouble down the road. 

More than that, incorrect information may cause your divorce to last much longer than it should since it will be necessary to clear up any information that you may have listed in an incorrect manner. 

Get a Divorce Mediator

Everyone knows that the process of going through a divorce is very long and difficult, and many problems can come up along the way. Most people want nothing more than to get the divorce over with as fast as possible. When there are a lot of arguments between the spouses during the process of a divorce, this will only cause the entire process to last a lot longer. 

Even the most skilled divorce lawyers won’t be able to help you much if your divorce is particularly complicated, as it will have to take time to resolve and come to an agreement. However, you can make all of this a lot easier if you get a divorce mediator. 

Not everyone gets a divorce mediator to help them through a divorce, and this is almost always a mistake. This is because a good divorce mediator can help you through the entire process of divorce. More than that, a divorce mediator can ensure that the process of divorce is as smooth as possible. 

Of course, a mediator might not be able to make your divorce completely painless, but one can certainly help make sure that you and your spouse come to an agreement in a much shorter period of time and with far less stress.

But What Does a Divorce Mediator Do Exactly?

A divorce mediator is a professional who is intended to be a neutral party in your divorce. This professional is specially trained to help people through divorces. The benefit of using a divorce mediator is that he or she will allow you and your spouse to work through your divorce in a more informal setting. 

What You Need to Know

This is in contrast to the more formal nature of going to court or trial to battle out your divorce. This is important because not all divorces require going to court. If you wish to divorce your spouse in an amicable way, using a divorce mediator is the perfect way to do this. 

The mediator will help you and your spouse with exactly what will happen throughout the divorce process. The mediator can also help divide pieces of property, possessions, and other important things in your lives. Usually, you and your spouse will need to meet with the mediator in the mediator’s office. 

That way, you can all talk together and come to an agreement as to what decision might be beneficial or fair for both parties involved. While these office meetings are typical, these days, there may also be an opportunity to meet with the mediator online through a video call or something similar. 

Whatever the case, once you and your spouse have the chance to talk with the mediator, keep in mind that the mediator will take a neutral stance on your issues. This is important as it will allow the mediator to take an unbiased view of your problems and for that reason, the mediator will be able to better sort them out. 

Serve the Forms and Finalize the Divorce

Once you finish filling out all the forms necessary to file your divorce, you will need to bring those forms to the clerk of court who you will find located in the court designed for domestic relations. Keep in mind that filing these documents will cost a certain amount of money. If you are in a position in which you do not have enough money to pay for those forms, don’t worry. 

In that case, you can fill out another form titled a Poverty Affidavit Form Assistant to help you out. Keep in mind that you will still need to pay the filing fee, but not right away. Serving divorce paperwork involves telling your spouse that you have done the paperwork to file for divorce. 

Usually, serving divorce papers involves sending the papers through the mail to your spouse. From that point, your spouse will have around 14 days to fill out those papers and send them back to continue the divorce process. There are some cases in which the spouse may refuse to sign the papers, in which case the court will instead instate temporary divorce orders. 

What to Know

Also, in some cases, it may be necessary for you and your spouse to go to a court hearing. If so, this court hearing is almost always scheduled about a month after you first file for divorce. Hearings are relatively straightforward and they mainly focus on you and your spouse coming to an agreement with as little arguing as possible. 

Again, this is why it is so important to have a divorce mediator on your side. This is because a mediator can smooth out any bumps in the divorce process and make sure that both you and your spouse are as satisfied as possible with the agreements made during the divorce. This will minimize unnecessary arguments and stress and will also make sure that the divorce proceeds as quickly and easily as possible. 

Once everything is agreed upon and made into a written agreement, you can finally finalize your divorce. This is done when your judge signs your written agreement. 

All About the Ohio Divorce Process

The Ohio divorce process can sometimes be complicated, but this doesn’t always have to be the case. Once you familiarize yourself with the entire divorce process, you will find that it is much more straightforward than you might expect, especially with the help of a mediator. 

To learn more about getting a divorce mediator, contact us here.