People sometimes believe that they will have an obligation to prove to a court that they should be permitted to get divorced. They know that they want to end their marriage, but they may not be sure that they have a “good enough reason.” They think they have to wait for something like abuse or infidelity in order to have the law back their decision.
What you need to understand is that modern divorce laws do not mandate this requirement. Under the no-fault divorce system in Indiana – just like many other states – you simply have to cite something like irreconcilable differences or, as the law itself describes it, “the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage” if you wish to divorce. If two people come to court and say that they believe their marriage has broken down and they want to end it, neither person has to prove that the situation is the other person’s fault.
The Court Will Not Deny Your Divorce
Similarly, because there’s no element of proof that is needed, the court is not going to deny a divorce to a couple that wants to end their marriage. They are not going to order that the couple must stay married against their own wishes. Instead, the court’s job is to facilitate the divorce process.
Instead, the court’s job is to facilitate the divorce process. It’s important to know how to divide assets, especially since Indiana is not a community property state. Assets are split up between both parties, but division does not necessarily have to be equal. Couples also need to know how to split up child custody time, dividing both the time they spend with the child and their decision-making power.
The court can make decisions for a couple when they can’t agree – such as ruling on how time with their child must be divided. But that is much different than deciding to deny a divorce. The court just focuses on the outcome and the details.
Divorce may be easier than it was in the past because of the way that the laws have changed. But that doesn’t mean that the process itself still isn’t complicated. Make sure you know about all of your legal options by working with an experienced legal professional as you start to navigate this major life transition.
