Hi, my name is Kirsten Krueger and two years ago, I was in a car accident. I was stopped at a stop sign when the driver behind me slammed into my car. Due to my injuries, I had to spend a few days in the hospital and I was unable to work for two months. My medical care was expensive and without being able to work, I couldn't pay my bills. The car accident was stressful enough and then I had to worry about how I would pay my bills. After speaking with a car accident lawyer, it wasn't long before I was compensated for my medical bills and lost wages from work. I'm writing this blog to help others who have been a car accident and haven't received any compensation. As you read my posts, you'll learn how an attorney can help you if you're in a vehicle accident.
To make a somewhat complicated issue a bit more complicated, getting divorced while residing in two separate states will take a bit more work than usual. Couples often split up and move away from each other, so ending marriages where the parties live away from each other is entirely possible. Read on to find out what married couples who live far apart need to know about divorcing from a distance.
State of Legal Residence
When you wish to divorce, you don't have to file in the same state or county where you wed. The most important thing to consider is your legal state of residence. Almost all (but not all) states have laws about how long you must reside in a state before you can divorce there. If neither of you has been living in the state for the allotted amount of time (say, six months) then you must wait. Legal residence is proven by showing a driver's license, domicile documents, a lease, or a mortgage.
The Race to File
If both parties are legally domiciled in separate states, they are both free to file for divorce. In the rare occurrence that both parties have the same idea at the same time, the party that filed first will become the official filing party. Divorce laws vary greatly from state to state, but the state where the filing party lives will become the law of the land for the divorce regardless of where the other spouse lives.
Jurisdiction
The above term refers to which state has governance over the parties in the divorce and the answer is that no state does. The state of the filing party has complete control over the dissolution of the marriage and not the parties. It's a small point of law that allows the state to have their say even when the parties live in two disparate states. There are, as with all matters legal, a few exceptions to note. In general, states have no power over pieces of property that are in a different state. This issue comes into play when a spouse in another state is ordered to hand over the lake house in the state where they live. Speak to your attorney about this.
When You Can Choose
If both parties are legally domiciled in both states, it might be helpful to find out which state has the most advantageous property, debt, child custody, etc laws. Speak to a divorce attorney in your state to determine which state laws could best benefit your situation. Then, just file for divorce before your spouse does or encourage your spouse to file first in their state of residency.
If you are beginning to get the idea that divorcing across state lines can be complicated, you are right. Be sure to speak to a divorce lawyer in your state of residency to learn more about jurisdictional issues and how state laws differ.
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