13 Things to Agree Upon for a Simple, Uncontested Divorce
25/10/2021 05:01 PM
1. With respect to the minor children of the marriage, if any: (a.) Will one or both spouses make major life decisions for the children; and (b.). With whom shall the children live, and when will they spend time with the other parent; and (c.) How much child support shall the parent with whom the children live receive from the other parent?
2. What will happen to the marital home itself and the contents within it?
3. What will happen to any other real estate (timeshare, summer home, investment properties) once the parties are divorced?
4. Who keeps what automobiles? Are there any motorcycles, boats or campers to be considered? Who pays any existing loan(s) on each, and how will the registration, title and insurance on any of the them be handled?
5. How will each spouse and the children of their marriage be covered for health/ dental/vision/orthodontic insurance after the divorce?
6. What type of life insurance policies exist prior to the divorce, and what will be done with these policies after the divorce?
7. Each spouse must disclose his/her cash assets to the other, and decisions must be made on how the cash assets of the spouses shall be divided upon their divorce.
8. Each spouse must disclose his/her retirement assets to the other and decisions must be made on how retirement accounts shall be divided between the spouses upon their divorce.
9. Each spouse must disclose the value of each business he/she owns, and the spouses must agree upon what will happen with respect to each such business in terms of its assets, liabilities and future ownership.
10. Each spouse must disclose his/her credit card, loan or other debt and decisions must be made on how the debt of the spouses shall be divided between them.
11. The spouses must decide how they will file their income tax federal and state returns for the year in which they get divorced. If filing separately, who gets the dependency deduction for each of the children of the marriage?
12. If one party has taken the name of the other, then she/he must determine whether to use the maiden or married name after the divorce.
13. Other miscellaneous issues particular to the divorcing parties, such as pets, cemetery plots, collections of any kind and anything else of significance, must be decided upon if they would like these details included as part of the terms of their agreement.
(adapted from Conflict Resolution Training, Inc.)
