A divorce is a method of terminating a marriage contract between two individuals. From a legal standpoint, your divorce will give each person the legal right to marry someone else, it will legally divide the couple's assets and debts, and determine the care and custody of their children. Each state addresses these issues differently, but there are some relatively uniform standards. Each state does have some type of "no fault" divorce laws that can significantly simplify the divorce process.

Traditionally, divorce was granted on the basis of some marital misconduct such as adultery or physical abuse. In these cases the "guilty" spouse was punished by getting a smaller share of the couple's property or being denied custody of their children while the "innocent" spouse was rewarded for being faithful to the vows of marriage. In a no fault divorce, however, both parties agree that there is no "fault" involved in the grounds for divorce. In fact, any misconduct is irrelevant to the divorce proceedings. A marriage can be terminated simply because the couple agrees that it is no longer salvageable.

Please note that states' laws differ on the issue of fault or no fault divorce. Among the 50 states, 15 provide no fault divorce as their residents' only choice; residents of other states may pursue fault based or no fault divorce.

A "fault" divorce is one in which one party blames the other for the failure of the marriage by citing a legal wrong. Grounds for fault can include adultery, physical or mental cruelty, desertion, alcohol or drug abuse, insanity, impotence or infecting the other spouse with a venereal disease.

As noted above, please contact an attorney regarding the types of divorce permitted in an individual state.

The requirements for filing a petition for divorce vary for each state. Generally, there are residency and domicile requirements. That means one of the parties must have been a resident of the state for a specified period of time prior to the filing of the petition. Some states may not have a residency requirement.

A legal separation can involve a court order declaring that a couple is no longer living together, and that all the issues concerning the marriage have been resolved, such as issues related to children and distribution of property. It does not terminate the marriage or legal status of the couple as married. The spouses are not free to remarry.

They cannot be changed unless there is a provision in the divorce agreement to do so, unless one of the parties commits fraud, or to correct mistakes in drafting. However, there is a provision in the law to amend spousal or child support based upon a change of circumstances.

Courts divide property between spouses using two different concepts: Community Property and Equitable Distribution. The laws in each state vary as to the factors it uses to determine the final property division.

Keep in mind, equitable does not mean equal. The goal is to award each spouse a percentage of the total value of the assets.

Generally, states that use the Community Property system classify all the property as either community property or separate property. Community property is owned equally by the spouses and divided equally at divorce. Separate property is kept by the spouse who owns it. The community property states are: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

States using the equitable distribution system consider all the assets and earnings accumulated during marriage to be marital property and divide them fairly at divorce.

Some states refer to alimony as maintenance or spousal support. Each word refers to the same concept - one spouse providing funds to the other, but each state has different rules to determine how much support is paid. Alimony (or maintenance or spousal support) can be awarded for an indefinite or definite period of time. Generally, courts consider the standard of living of the parties that was established during marriage, the circumstances of the case and of the parties, whether the party who is getting the award lacks sufficient property and income to provide for his/her reasonable needs and whether the party paying the maintenance has sufficient property and income to provide for the other's reasonable needs. If you live in a fault-based state, some courts consider the fault of the parties when determining support.  In some states it may be very difficult for a spouse to be awarded alimony.

The length of time it takes to get a divorce varies from state to state, and is dependent upon the type of relief sought and type of hearing that is necessary. An uncontested divorce will take the least amount of time in most jurisdictions and can take as little as 90 days. In other states, the parties have to live separate and apart for at least a year prior to finalizing the divorce.

Parties can charge one another with adultery at any time and the existence of a separation agreement does not protect a party from being so charged. Any behavior on your part which would indicate "inclination" or "opportunity" could be used against you to establish adultery until your divorce is final.  Bear in mind that in a no fault state the commission of adultery may have little, if any, impact on an ongoing divorce proceeding.  In a fault-based divorce, adultery may greatly impact the distribution of assets and the award of alimony.

It is not mandatory that you hire an attorney and you may represent yourself, however, you may be putting yourself at a serious disadvantage. Most divorces are not straightforward unless there are no marital assets, children or other joint issues. Given the complexity of the issues, it may be beneficial to employ the services of a professional who is knowledgeable with the law in your state and experienced in the field.

Generally, it is a conflict of interest for an attorney to represent and advise both parties to a divorce.

In most jurisdictions, a court has the authority to require either parent to name a child in the parent's health insurance coverage if the parent can obtain health insurance coverage through an employer or any form of group health insurance coverage, and the child can be included at a reasonable cost to the parent.

In 1983 federal regulations were implemented stating that the RRB would honor a decree of divorce, legal separation or annulment (or a court-approved property settlement incident to such a decree). However, the terms of the divorce decree or other court-approved agreement must comply with those regulations. Of note are the following provisions of the regulations:

• The decree must be final and must be issued in accordance with the laws of the state and court in which it was entered.
• The decree must provide for the division of the employee's benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act, as distinguished from payments under any private pension.
• The decree must provide for the division of the employee's benefits as part of a final dispositions of property between the parties, rather than as an award of spousal support.
• the decree must obligate the RRB rather than the employee to make direct payments to the spouse.
• The decree may not divide the tier I amount. The Board applies a property award only to the employee's non-tier I benefits without regard to the working of the decree.
• The Board's Bureau of Law in Chicago must receive a properly worded decree.

Other regulations apply. Additional information may be obtained from the RRW Web site at G-177d:"Partition of Annuities by Court Decree", or you can just .