Filing for divorce in Ohio is the way to terminate a marriage when the spouses do not agree on the terms of their divorce or the grounds for the divorce itself. In Ohio you can also terminate a marriage through dissolution. A marriage can only be dissolved in Ohio with the parties do not contest any of the terms or grounds for the divorce.
Residency Requirement
In order to file for divorce in Ohio, you (the spouse filing) have to have been a resident for at least the six months immediately before fiing the papers. Most counties will also require that you be a resident for at least 90 days prior to filing as well.
Grounds
Ohio Revised Code 3105 which covers issues pertaining to divorce, dissolution of marriage, alimony and annulment does allow for either fault or no fault divorce. During the time that your divorce is pending, the spouses can petition the court to switch the proceeding to a dissolution of the marriage, assuming there are no issues left to be resolved which the spouses have not already agreed to.
If you are seeking a fault divorce, you have to be prepared to prove at least one of the following nine acceptable grounds for divorce in Ohio:
- Bigamy
- Absence from the marital home for one year
- Adultery
- Extreme cruelty
- Fraudulent contract
- Gross negligence of duty
- Habitual drunkenness
- Imprisonment of one spouse in a state of federal prison
- Existence of an out of state divorce
An example of gross negligence of duty would be if a spouse refused to support the family and a hypothetical example of fraudulent contract would be if your then fiance told you he was a wealthy surgeon living in a mansion and you discovered after marriage that he was a blue collar working living in an apartment, or that your fiance had several children you were unaware of.
Terms
When a couple is divorced, or a marriage is dissolved there is a variety of issues which must be settled. When the couple can't agree on how to resolve the issues themselves or through mediation, the courts will step and and order a resolution. Ohio is an equitable distribution state, which means that marital property will be distributed between the spouses in a manner that seems to be fair to the court.
Issues that need resolution when ending a marriage include:
- Division of personal property, real property and debt. (Note that while you may agree with your spouse that you will pay the mortgage if he pays the credit cards, your creditors are not a party to your divorce and each spouse will continue to have a financial obligation to repay any loans or credit cards that they currently have responsibility for.)
- Child custody, visitation, support.
- Spousal support, whether temporary or permanent.
- Division of assets, including future assets such as a pension.
Get Legal Help
Divorces, even when the spouses are parting amicably, are complicated legal transactions that should be handled by a professional in order to protect your long term interests. If you think you will be divorcing, contact an attorney immediately to discuss your concerns and find out how best to plan your divorce so that you can reduce your stress and take care of yourself.
