Hello and thank you for your invaluable help!
I served the petition and summons to my spouse 31 days ago. No response. We do not have children or property/assets. I am hoping for a true default case.
I have not served the financial disclosures yet.
The financial disclosures will be served this week. Then I am ready to file the FL141 and relevant financial docs. My question is: Can I file the FL165, FL170, FL180, FL190 at the same time as the Financial disclosures and FL141?
Or do I have to file teh financial disclosures with the court and then later file the default paperwork?
Thank you so much!
Financial disclosures filing at same time as default filing?
Hey Cristen!
Thank you so much for your videos! They are helping me so much.
I have filed the initial forms (FL-100, FL-110, FL-115), served my spouse (with the FL-120), and completed the financial disclosures. I have filed the FL-141 and FL-150 and I have served my spouse with the FL-140, FL-141, FL-142, and FL-150. What is the next step?
The next step depends on your spouse. If your spouse responds, then you will need to work together to either reach a full agreement or go to court for the judge to decide the contested issues. If your spouse does NOT respond, you can either work together to reach and agreement or you can try to finish up the divorce on your own based on your wishes.
A divorce without children needs to resolve the following issues:
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Property division. This includes everything from the pots and pans to the bank accounts, vehicles, retirement plans, and real property. Who gets what?
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Debt allocation. Debts can be anything from credit card debts to tax debt to student loans, as well as anything else either of you owes to a third party. Who pays what?
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Spousal Support/Alimony. Does one person want support from the other? If so, how much and for how long? What might make the amount change?
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You can do both at the same time as long as your spouse was served at least 30 days prior to taking his default.
Hey Cristin,
Thank you for responding .It has been 31 days since I served my spouse now and I have not gotten any response or any paperwork . Should I go to the courthouse to see if there was anything filed on his part?
So to my understanding the last forms are the property division, debt allocation, and the spousal support /alimony? Are these forms I can find on the website? My spouse and I are not in communication so I would be filling this out on my own based wishes .
If your spouse hasn’t responded and you don’t expect your spouse to respond, you’re likely looking at what is called a “default divorce,” meaning that your divorce proceeds without your spouse’s participation.
Depending on your county, you may be able to look up your case online and see what documents have been filed. While you can’t see images/PDFs of what was filed, you can see the clerk’s notes as to who filed what when. If your county doesn’t have an online system, you can go to the courthouse to pull your paper file.
Assuming your spouse has done nothing, your last forms are related to a default Judgment. Each person’s Judgment will look different, depending on your specific situation and what your county of filing may require, but at a minimum, you’ll need the following:
FL-165
FL-170
FL-180
FL-190
You can use the following additional forms to help you out:
FL-160 (attached to FL-165) --> this one is likely required for a default Judgment if you have significant property/debt issues
FL-157 (attached to FL-170)
FL-343 (attached to FL-180)
FL-345 (attached to FL-180)
There are definitely a LOT of other forms, but the “optional” ones I’ve provided are ones that I find useful in certain situations and ones that I have personally used for clients when appropriate.
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Cristin thank you so much for responding and listing the forms. Do you have any links posted or that you can recommend if the spouse is in the military?I was going threw FL 165 and came to a stop . I read that he is protected under the Servicememebes Civil Relief Act . I am just having a hard time finding more information on what do next and what forms are needed in this situation.
If your spouse is active duty military, he is protected under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (what we used to call the “Soldiers and Sailors Act”), and you cannot take his default with extra steps. It can be a little tricky to get through the requirements on your own, so you would be best off hiring an attorney for at least the limited purpose of getting him properly served outside the protection of the act.
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Thank you for your response , you have been very helpful throughout.
Hello Cristin, I’m very happy with the forum you have set up for all of us who still have some questions that need answers!
My ex and I are almost done with our divorce. We’ve turned in all of our preliminary papers and have written up our marital agreement. The only problem is we turned in FL 165 as well as 130/130A, being that he’s in the military. Aren’t both of these papers for a a default/uncontested divorce? I’m confused as to why filing both of these papers would be an issue.
Hi Stephanie,
Can you please clarify your question? Are you saying that your Judgment has been rejected due to filing FL-165 and FL-130 with FL-130(A) attached?
I was told I wouldn’t be able to do a judgement if both papers were attached.
I’m sorry, but I don’t know what “both papers” are and what you would attach to which documents.
Hi Cristen! A quick question I hope. I am working on the Financial disclosures, my only question is does the respondent have to file their own FL 141 and FL 150?
I fully understand all the other forms have to be served to each other, but in terms of what gets filed in the court, I know I have to file FL 141 and FL 150, I’m just not sure if the respondent also has to file theirs as well? We have no children, no requests for spousal support, and are not requesting a judgement on property division (we are in agreement on everything). thanks!
If the Respondent has filed a Response, then yes, the Respondent has to file their own FL-141 and FL-150.
If, however, you have a “default with agreement” type of case, the Respondent can avoid doing their disclosures.
Good luck!
Hey Cristin!
By “both papers” I meant the FL-130 and the FL-165. Both these documents were filed to the courthouse and I was told I wouldn’t be able to do my final disclosure due to one document being for a contested case and the other being for a uncontested case. Is there a paper I can file to remove or cancel out one of the documents turned into the courthouse? Or what can I do?
Hi Stephanie,
FL-130 is required in a uncontested divorce where both parties have fully participated, meaning that the Petitioner has filed a petition and preliminary disclosure, and the Respondent has filed a response and preliminary disclosure.
Fl-165 assumes that the Respondent has NOT filed a response and is therefore having their default taken. That doesn’t mean the parties haven’t reached an agreement (you can have a default WITH agreement and a default WITHOUT agreement).
In other words, you cannot have BOTH FL-130 and FL-165 in a single case. It’s not so much a right or wrong way to proceed as which form is right for YOUR case. It really depends on what kind of case you have.