Divorce FAQs

It depends on which type of divorce you are doing. If you are pursuing an uncontested divorce (where you and your spouse have reached an agreement concerning all marital issues) then you can fill out our questionnaire, call us with any questions you have, and basically mail or email us the questionnaire, pay the attorney’s fees, and we will contact you when we receive everything. If you are seeking a contested divorce (meaning that you and your spouse have not reached an agreement or they cannot be located) then you will need to call the office for a consultation with one of our divorce and family law attorneys.

For a contested divorce, you will need to call and speak with one of our attorneys for a quote. However, our contested divorce lawyers usually work with you to structure a retainer that is billed out at an hourly rate. For a simple uncontested divorce, it is a flat attorney’s fee. You will need to contact our office to request this flat fee.

The uncontested divorce may require additional fees if there are substantial property or tax considerations involved, business interests, paternity issues, retirement issues, or any other complex issues that would require more time of the attorney. There is also a filing fee that every county charges when you file and has to be paid to the court at the time the divorce is filed. This is not money that we get paid, it goes to the Alabama courts when the divorce is filed and is separate from the attorney’s fees. They usually are between $150 and $350, with each county’s filing fee being different. You can look up your county on our Alabama divorce filing fees by county page.

As long as you or your spouse is a resident of Alabama, then you can file here. To be a resident, you have to have resided in the State for at least six months prior to filing a case. If you both are residents of Alabama, then you can technically file in whichever county either of you live in. For example, if you live in Shelby County and your spouse lives in Madison County, then you can technically file your divorce in either county.

However, some counties like to discourage any filings when neither party is a resident and it is ultimately up to the particular judges in the county you are filing in to allow non-residents to file in their courts. Therefore, you can usually file in any county you want (if both of you are residents of the State of Alabama), but some counties do discourage such filings.

To file in Alabama, at least one of you has to be a resident. If one of you resides outside of the State of Alabama, then your divorce will have to be filed in the county that the Alabama resident lives in. So if you live in Jefferson County and your spouse lives in California, then you have to file in either Jefferson County or California. When you call our Montgomery divorce attorneys we can give you advice on where in Alabama to file your divorce.

Alabama allows both no-fault and fault-based divorces. Most divorces today are filed on no-fault grounds, which simply means there has been an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage or incompatibility of temperament such that the parties can no longer live together. You do not have to prove that anyone did anything wrong. Alabama also still recognizes fault grounds, such as adultery, abandonment, imprisonment, or addiction, but you generally do not need to allege fault to get divorced, and doing so can make the case more contentious. Fault is sometimes relevant to issues like alimony or the division of property.

An uncontested divorce is where both you and your spouse have reached an agreement about all of your marital issues such as custody, child support, division of property, and all other issues. If you have reached such an agreement prior to filing for divorce, then you can file your settlement agreement (signed by both spouses) at the time your divorce is filed. Since an agreement has been filed at the time the divorce is filed, then the divorce begins as an uncontested divorce, meaning that there are no contested matters since everything has been agreed upon and put down in a contract or settlement agreement.

You typically hire a Birmingham divorce attorney to type up all of your divorce documents that are required by your particular county (most counties have their own local requirements) and you get them signed and your attorney files them with the court. Since an agreement is filed at the time the divorce is filed, a judge will usually sign your divorce decree without the need for any hearings since there are no issues to be resolved.

A contested divorce is any divorce action that is filed without an agreement. All divorces are initiated by the filing of a document called a Complaint. Once the divorce is filed without an agreement, the Complaint must be served on the other spouse, usually this is done by a private company that goes out and personally hand delivers or serves the spouse with the Complaint.

Once served, the spouse has 30 days to file an Answer. If they do file within this time period, then your contested divorce will periodically be set for hearings, mediation, and other settings in order to see if both of you can reach an agreement on some of the contested issues. If certain issues are still contested after many attempts at an agreement, then the case will be set for trial and a judge will decide all of your contested issues for you and your spouse. At this trial, both spouses will call witnesses and present evidence of why they should be awarded whatever it is that they are wanting. This process can be very expensive (attorney’s fees are usually thousands of dollars) and can take a long time to get resolved.

An uncontested divorce usually takes about 6-10 weeks after everything has been signed by both spouses and filed with the court. It takes this long because the court cannot officially order you divorced until 30 days have passed from the time of the divorce being filed. This mandatory 30-day waiting period is why even the simplest divorce cannot be finalized immediately. A contested divorce can take anywhere from 30 days to months or years, depending on if there is a trial or not. If both parties cannot reach an agreement and a trial is necessary to determine the contested issues, then it can take much longer than an uncontested divorce.

A divorce legally ends your marriage, leaving both people free to remarry. A legal separation does not end the marriage — it is a court order that divides property, sets custody and support, and allows the spouses to live separately while remaining legally married. Some people choose legal separation for religious reasons, to preserve certain insurance or benefits, or because they are not certain they want to permanently end the marriage. Because you remain married, you cannot remarry while only legally separated. Many people who start with a legal separation later convert it to a divorce.

Alabama is an equitable distribution state, which means the court divides marital property in a way that is fair, though not always exactly equal. Marital property generally includes assets and debts acquired during the marriage, while separate property — such as something one spouse owned before the marriage or received by gift or inheritance — is often kept by that spouse, although it can become marital in some situations. In an uncontested divorce, you and your spouse decide how to divide everything yourselves and we put your agreement into the documents. In a contested case, the judge decides. You can read more on our property division page.

Not necessarily. Alimony is not automatic in Alabama, and many divorces are finalized without any alimony at all. When it is awarded, the court looks at factors such as the length of the marriage, the standard of living during the marriage, each spouse’s earning ability, and the financial needs and resources of each party. Alabama recognizes different types of alimony, including rehabilitative alimony for a set period to allow a spouse to become self-supporting, and in longer marriages, periodic alimony. In an uncontested divorce, the spouses decide the alimony question themselves. Our alimony attorneys can explain how this might apply to your situation.

You cannot remarry another person for a period of 60 days from the date your divorce decree is entered. If either spouse files an appeal during that 60-day window, you cannot remarry until the appeal is resolved. This waiting period applies to remarrying someone else; it does not prevent the two divorced spouses from remarrying each other.

If they will not sign the papers then you and your spouse are not in agreement (since they are not willing to sign the agreement) and you can wait to see if they change their mind or you can file for a contested divorce. An uncontested divorce only works when both spouses cooperate and sign. If your spouse will not participate, the contested process exists precisely for that situation — it allows the court to move the divorce forward and decide the disputed issues even without the other spouse’s agreement.

If you cannot locate your spouse, then you will need to file a contested divorce and we will try to locate them ourselves or have the process server attempt to find them as well. If they still cannot be located and served properly, then there is a mechanism for getting divorced that involves your local newspaper and usually takes a few extra months. This method basically allows for you to put an ad in the paper notifying your spouse of the divorce filing, giving them notice in the local paper. If your spouse avoids service by not coming to his/her door or hiding from attempts at service, then this method of service may be used as well in order for you to get your divorce completed. If you are in need of a divorce lawyer anywhere in the State of Alabama we can help.