Life After Divorce
The divorce process can be an emotionally, financially, and psychologically devastating experience, especially when considering hotly-contested issues like child custody & visitation, property division, child support payments and alimony. But with careful planning, legal counsel, and outlook, you can move past divorce and regain control of your life just like millions of people before you. Don't be too self-conscious or too uncertain to get the help you need, whether that help is from a local divorce lawyer or an agency that can help you financially during the transition or a counselor of you or your children.
It's natural to breathe a combined sigh of relief and sadness when your divorce case is final, but for many people, the road doesn't end there. A divorce decree creates obligations, and those obligations may continue for years to come. This is especially true where there are minor children involved.
Enforcement of Your Decree
When a final decree is entered in your divorce case, the court retains jurisdiction over your case. That's because some orders in a divorce case are subject to modification, and others require enforcement if one party fails to fulfill his or her obligations.
The most common issues revisited by divorce courts are child support and visitation. A parent who fails or refuses to pay child support specified in the divorce degree can be held in contempt of court. The court can garnish the delinquent parent's wages, require him or her to pay the other parent's attorneys fees, and even put a parent in jail for non-payment of child support.
Similarly, a parent who refuses to cooperate with court-ordered visitation can be held in contempt and subjected to similar sanctions.
While these are the most common areas in which divorce courts have to act to enforce existing decrees, either party may also go back to the divorce court to enforce property division, payment of outstanding debts, alimony or maintenance, or any other aspect of the decree that one party might fail to honor.
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Modification
Many aspects of your divorce decree are subject to change under certain circumstances. Although the decree is considered a "final order", state laws provide for modification of certain aspects of the decree for various reasons.
Again, modification of child support orders and / or visitation orders is most common. Most states place restrictions on the reasons that a child support order can be changed and how often a parent can request a change. The most common reason for modification is a change in income. If the non-custodial parent loses his job, for instance, he may petition the court to reduce or temporarily suspend his child support obligation. On the other hand, if the parent paying child support sees a significant increase in income, the other parent may petition the court to increase child support.
Visitation schedules may be modified if one parent moves, or in some areas may be based on smaller changes such as a child becoming involved in an activity that makes the existing schedule unworkable.
Some states allow for modification of other aspects of the divorce decree, such as alimony and maintenance payments, if one party sees a substantial change in income or, in some cases, if the receiving party remarries.
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Remarriage After Divorce
If you're considering remarrying after a divorce, make sure that you thoroughly understand the divorce laws in both the state where your divorce decree was entered and the state where you plan to remarry. Different states impose different waiting periods after finalization of a divorce. Thus, it may be that in your home state, where you were divorced, you can remarry legally after 60 days, but if you travel out of state to get married you may discover that the state you're visiting imposes a 6 month waiting period.
It's also important to note that the clock starts on the waiting period when the final decree is entered, which isn't always on the day of your final hearing or the day an agreement is submitted to the court. Be sure that you know the date that your divorce decree was entered.
Finally, consult with your divorce lawyer about the possible impact of remarriage on financial considerations such as alimony or spousal maintenance payments.
It's just as important to be fully educated about your divorce decree and your rights under that decree after your divorce as it is during your divorce proceedings. Be sure to talk to your divorce attorney about any of these issues that may relate to your situation so that you fully understand your rights and options and the ramifications of your future decisions.