Many people are uncertain about how to wrap up their divorce after going through the mediation process. Couples who go to mediation can often avoid ever appearing in court. They still, however, must complete all of the basic paperwork required to legally finalize a divorce. Today we will walk through the steps of concluding a New Jersey  divorce after mediation.

In our last post, we talked about the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This is a document that includes all the agreements you reach in mediation. The MOU forms the outline for your final Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA).

Marital Settlement Agreements

Most couples who are ready to finalize their divorce ask the consulting attorney for one of the spouses to put their MOU into the form of a Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA). The attorney for the other spouse then reviews the MSA to ensure that it complies with the MOU and contains all necessary legal clauses. Both parties must then sign the MSA, have it notarized, and file it in court. The court will review the MSA and turn it into a consent order controlling the outcome of your divorce. Court review at this stage is superficial. You must be certain that your MSA includes everything you need it to include before submitting it to the court.

If neither of you has filed for divorce yet, either before or during mediation, you can submit your paperwork and your MSA to the court at the same time and request an uncontested divorce. You will also need to file whatever other documents the court requires to conclude the case, such as a proposed final divorce judgment.

Divorce on the Papers

At one point, concluding a New Jersey divorce required a brief court appearance where the parties would answer some basic questions in person before the judge. In most cases of uncontested divorce, this is no longer the case. Judges in some counties have been granting final divorces without court appearances (known as a divorce on the papers) for several years. The courts extended this policy in 2020 due to the court closures that occurred during the pandemic. This expansion generally remains in place. Currently, parties can obtain a New Jersey divorce or dissolution of a marriage, civil union, or domestic partnership, or an annulment, without a court appearance where there are no additional requests for relief or outstanding issues for the court to resolve and either of  the  following circumstances exists:

• the filing spouse has given proper notice of filing the divorce complaint to the other spouse and is requesting a default judgment due to the other spouse’s failure to respond, or
• both spouses agree on all issues and are requesting an uncontested divorce with a signed MSA, or a continuation of final orders entered in other proceedings that resolve all issues of equitable distribution, custody, parenting time, and child support.

A no-appearance divorce is not automatic. You must request it in writing. After you submit your paperwork, court staff will review it and notify you of anything that is incorrect or incomplete. You will have 10 days to make corrections. If you do not meet that timeframe, the court will schedule a hearing.

Judgment of Divorce

Once your paperwork is in order, court staff will send it to a judge within 5 days. The judge will review it, and if it is satisfactory will issue a judgment of divorce or dissolution. The court will mail the judgment to the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney who will then serve it on the defendant or the defendant’s attorney.

This is just a general outline of the procedure. Be sure to check with your attorney or the court to be sure that you have complied with all requirements. A no appearance divorce can help make the mediation process smooth and easy.

Next month we will talk about who can use mediation successfully and who should think twice about choosing the process. Meanwhile, if you want to know more about any aspect of mediation, or if you are ready to start mediation, contact one of our experienced mediators today.