Although you and your spouse may have experienced many happy years together, you may have grown apart and no longer wish to be married to each other. The court in New Jersey can dissolve the union that you share with your spouse. If you follow the required steps and are able to wrap your mind around the process, you will hopefully have a smooth experience.
After that, you can hopefully move ahead with your life and look forward to a bright future and to being happy again.
Can everyone file for divorce in New Jersey?
Either you or your spouse must have been a resident of the state for a minimum of one year before you ask the court to grant you a divorce. However, the one exception to that rule is if adultery was the reason for the divorce. If adultery was involved, you or your spouse can meet the residency requirements by residing in the state for any amount of time.
If you wish to obtain a divorce, you need to state the grounds (or the legal reason for wanting to leave the marriage) when you hand in the forms to the court). New Jersey recognizes fault grounds and no-fault grounds. In other words, it doesn’t matter who is at fault or if nobody is at fault. The following are potential grounds for divorce in New Jersey:
- Adultery: Having relations with someone other than the other spouse.
- Willful desertion: This applies if one of the spouses has been out of the home for a minimum of one year.
- Extreme cruelty: This encompasses physical and mental cruelty that puts health or well-being at risk. If a person uses extreme cruelty as the grounds for divorce, they are required to wait at least three months since the last incident of cruelty for it to be regarded as credible grounds.
- Separation: This applies if you have lived apart from your spouse for a minimum of a year and a half and reconciliation is not an option.
- Voluntary drug or alcohol addiction: The substance addiction must have gone on for at least 12 months after the marriage began and before the spouse filed for divorce.
- Imprisonment: Your spouse must have been in prison for a minimum of 18 months after the marriage began. Additionally, if you and your spouse started living together again after they got out of prison, imprisonment will not be considered grounds for divorce.
- Being institutionalized for mental illness: The time in the mental institution must have been for at least 2 years after the marriage began and before you filed for divorce.
- Irreconcilable differences: This is a credible reason for divorce as long as the marriage was not working for a minimum of six months with no chance to repair it. Typically, in a no-fault divorce, the spouses agree that they have irreconcilable differences.
Filing for divorce in New Jersey
Filing for divorce in New Jersey can be simple, as long as you follow the proper steps in the proper order and provided that you and your spouse are in agreement. It is important that you have all of the required documents when you file and there will be some nominal fees involved as well. Getting the proper legal support can help to make things go smoothly and before you know it, you will be free.