Texan couples who have decided to get a divorce will be looking at two distinct categories that their divorce could fall under: contested and uncontested. To be considered an uncontested divorce, it must hit certain criteria that can be somewhat difficult for many couples to achieve.
However, we will first take a look at contested divorces. FindLaw states that contested divorces are ones in which both of the people involved have one or more areas of disagreement regarding their split that the court will need to mediate. These areas can include:
- Child or spousal support
- Child custody or visitation rights
- Debt division
- Property division
- How to pay the attorney costs
In some cases, disagreement on whether or not to get the divorce in the first place can also set a divorce into this category.
On the opposite side, the Legal Dictionary shows that uncontested divorces have no arguments in any of the aforementioned areas. In essence, for a divorce to be considered uncontested, agreement on the divorce itself isn’t enough. The couple must also agree on custody rights, who will pay how much, how debt will be divided, which property will go to which person, and more. As most divorcing couples would know, agreeing on every single facet through the process of a divorce can be a tricky thing to do.
Many couples who achieve uncontested divorce do so with legal aid such as mediation. Costly court battles can be avoided and precious time can be saved if this is done successfully, making in an attractive option that some may wish to aim for.