Divorce Law
General Information about Divorce, Dissolution of Marriage, Legal separation, and Annulment
The proper term for a divorce in Cuyahoga County Ohio is "dissolution of marriage."
The difference between a divorce and legal separation, is that:
- in a divorce, formal dissolution of marriage paperwork has been filed with the court to terminate the marriage,
- whereas a legal separation can occur either by filing papers for legal separation with the court or by one of the parties in a marriage deciding to separate with the intent to permanently end the marriage.
It should be noted that a legal separation can occur even if the parties still live together.
The difference between a divorce and an annulment, is that
- In the case of an annulment, the marriage is either void, avoidable or not legal from its inception. In most cases it's much more difficult to obtain an annulment, than a divorce.
- A divorce involves the legal termination of a marriage by court order.
In Ohio, there are two types of dissolution of marriage proceedings available;
- Summary dissolution of marriage, and
- Standard dissolution of marriage.
Most marriages will not qualify for the summary dissolution of marriage procedure that is available in Ohio.
Marriages can be contested proceedings, uncontested or by way of a default judgment when one of the parties cannot be located or refuses to participate in the proceeding.
Ohio is not one of the so-called "no-fault" divorce states. The most common ground for requesting a divorce in Cuyahoga County Ohio, is irreconcilable differences. A party can also request a divorce on the grounds of death or insanity.
The most common issues involved in a divorce case in the state a Ohio are:
- dissolution of marriage,
- child custody,
- child visitation,
- child support,
- alimony which is actually known as spousal support in Ohio,
- family support,
- the division of marital property (please see the property issues page on this web site), determination of separate property,
- division and/ or allocation of retirement plans.
Due to the complex nature of family law litigation in Cuyahoga County Ohio, we highly recommend retaining an attorney to represent you. Our law firm can represent you in your divorce proceeding, and all the issues related thereto. Our law firm can also provide limited representation for you with respect to certain issues related to your family Law case. We can even do document preparation for you if you decide not to retain an attorney.