Rhode Island Divorce Tips

Some people actually are confused about when they are truly divorced.  The confusion is understandable though.  Let me explain why and answer the question.

Most Rhode Island Divorces are resolved at a Nominal Hearing.  This is a hearing where everything is agreed upon and the formalities required for the court to establish jurisdiction, find the basis for the divorce, waiver of alimony, etc. . . as required
by law are simply put on the record of the court.

At the end of a Nominal Hearing, just as at the end of a trial, the hearing judge among other things grants a divorce to one or both parties.

If you simply listen to the words of the hearing judge without knowing that Rhode Island Law requires a 91 day waiting period before a judge may sign a Final Judgment of Divorce you might easily think that you are divorced at that very moment.

The answer to the question is that you are not divorced until a Final Judgment of Divorce is signed by a family court judge and entered by the clerk of court into the records of the family court.

Authored by:

Christopher A. Pearsall, Esquire
PEARSALL LAW ASSOCIATES
70 Dogwood Drive, Suite 304
West Warwick, RI  02893
Phone:  (401) 632-6976

Attorney Pearsall's practice is focused almost exclusively in the areas of Divorce and Family law.

NOTE:  The postings on this website are NOT legal advice, DO NOT create an attorney/client relationship and are NOT a substitute for a detailed consultation with an attorney experienced in the state where you have your legal issue.  This site is based on Rhode Island and is presented for the convenience of the internet public.

* The Rhode Island Supreme Court licenses all lawyers in the general practice of law and has no procedure for recognition of specialty in any area of law.

Atty Chris Pearsall

Authored By:  Christopher Pearsall, RI Divorce Attorney
a.k.a.  " The Rhode Island Divorce Coach ℠ "

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Question:  I had an affair before I filed for divorce.  If the judge finds out about the divorce what might happen?

Answer:  Divorce may be based upon irreconcilable differences or may be fault-based under Rhode Island Law.  A divorce case may be filed based upon adultery.  Thus, an affair may play a part in your divorce proceeding.  However, the role the affair may play in your divorce will be directly related to the circumstances and the timing of the affair. 

Consider these two diverse examples:

Example No. 1 - John & Tina

John and Tina have been married for 20 years and have two children.  The second child turns 19 and goes off to college.  Unbeknownst to Tina, John has been unhappy for hears and has considered divorcing her for years because they have had virtually no relationship.  However, before John files for divorce he gets a promotion at his job and meets a woman who makes him feel alive again.  He begins to see this woman for two months and then files for divorce and immediately moves out of the house.

In this instance, what role does the affair play?  If Tina discovers that the infidelity began two months before John filed for divorce she might assume that this "other woman" and this "affair" are the cause of the marital breakdown and file a counterclaim for divorce alleging infidelity.  If Tina insists on going forward with the counterclaim for divorce based on adultery, it is possible that her counterclaim will be denied if the family court judge hears John testify that he was unhappy for years and merely stayed together for the sake of their children and it was only by fate that he ran into a woman who made him feel alive again.  If the judge believes John and believes that divorce was inevitable, then Tina should not prevail on her claim of adultery because Tina has not shown the affair was the actual cause of the breakdown of the marriage.

[Exerpt]  To read the full article go to AttorneyPearsall.com

Atty Chris Pearsall

Authored By:  Christopher Pearsall, RI Divorce Attorney
a.k.a.  " The Rhode Island Divorce Coach ℠ "

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Publisher on Google+

The Rhode Island General Laws give the Rhode Island Family Court and it's Judges the power to make an equitable distribution of the marital estate.

But what does it mean, generally speaking, to make an "equitable distribution." 

Let's extract all the legalese from the statutes and simply approach it from a practical perspective and I'm quite certain our common sense can digest what the framers of the statute intended.

"Distribution" means to divide, to separate, or to apportion.  That is fairly straightforward.  The court has a job to look at the marital estate (whatever the judge may determine it to be) in a Rhode Island Divorce proceeding and divide it, separate it or apportion it between the parties. 

Since children are not property or something owned by either parent you can be fairly certain that they aren't part of the marital estate so you don't have to worry about the distribution of your kids.  Although some parents might like to distribute the more difficult ones to the other parent on occasion.  Just kidding.

Now we can look at "equitable" and determine what that is.  Equitable is a word having its origins in the french language in the mid-sixteenth century from the word "equite".  (Sorry, I was unable to duplicate the french accents in  this posting in order to recreate the word properly.)  From this derivation we have today's meaning of equitable which means fair, just, impartial, evenhanded, unbiased and neutral. 

If you look at the word "equitable" you can see that it is intended to be something that is viewed from the outside of the circumstances looking in, otherwise it could not be impartial, evenhanded, unbiased or neutral.

Thus, if we put these two definitions together with these observations we can see that an equitable distribution of the marital estate is supposed to be an impartial view from the outside of the relationship looking in where the judge balances the circumstances surrounding the relationship to determine how the marital estate, be it a debt or an assets, should be apportioned to each party. 

In its most simplistic form, the court will distribute the marital estate in a manner that is fair and impartial given all the circumstances surrounding the parties' marriage.

It's no secret that Rhode Island Divorce Lawyers and attorneys in real estate and many other fields have been hit by the recession.  If you haven't been hit by it yet then count yourself lucky.  Companies are downsizing and businesses that have been around for 100 years and more are closing their doors.  Businesses of all sorts are finding ways to survive, stay in business, cut costs and remain profitable enough to remain viable in a horrible market. 

Money isn't in abundance and families are cutting back on luxuries and sticking to necessities.  It's not a wonder that more and more people are looking to technology to ease their financial burdens and automate everything they can to service customers and clients.

It is in the midst of our recession that I announce that I have decided to close my physical office in Cranston, Rhode Island and make a leap that I was hoping to postpone for six more months but practicality makes it more sensible to do so now.

Beginning on June 9, 2008 my physical office will close and my virtual office will open.  What does this mean new or existing clients?  It means tremendous savings.  By closing my physical office I will have completed my transition into a new age for attorneys and the practice of divorce law. 

By closing the physical office in Cranston I will be passing along the savings that results from eliminating my overhead costs to my clients.

I believe that to my knowledge that I will be the first Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer in Rhode Island to go 100% virtual and almost 100% digital.

By harnessing the power of computers and the internet I have been able to address filing and storage issues and costs as well as servicing clients more quickly and efficiently if they have a computer or access to a relative or friend or even a public library computer.  This enables clients to be informed more quickly than ever before and eliminates postage costs.  Clients will get quicker responses, see faster results and know what is going on with their case more readily than they would waiting to a typical attorney to return their call.  Of course I will certainly still be talking to clients by telephone since serving my clients is a personal thing and should never be reduced to just impersonal emails.

Though the transition to its completion may take another six (6) months to address issues that may arise, the savings will be noticed by clients immediately.

I am extremely excited to be making this move especially at a time when Rhode Islanders need it most.  I have literally become a divorce and family law attorney designed for Rhode Islanders and those who go before the Rhode Island Family Court to be able to address your divorce and family law issues during this recession at half the cost of a typical full-time experienced divorce practitioner.

Feel free to take advantage of the savings I can offer you while also increasing speed and efficiency.

I'm the Attorney for the New Millennium.

I can just about make a computer dance. 

Imagine what I might be able to do for you in court.

Call for your low-cost consultation.

Authored by:

Christopher A. Pearsall, Esquire
PEARSALL LAW ASSOCIATES
571 Pontiac Avenue
Cranston, RI  02910
Phone:  (401) 354-2369

Attorney Pearsall's practice is focused almost exclusively in the areas of Divorce and Family law.

A Rhode Island divorce attorney can make the divorce process sound simple or complicated.  Whether the attorney makes it sound simple or complicated may depend upon whether the attorney has a particular goal in mind or whether he or she simply is addressing a person with a different level of education who does not want to be spoken down to and therefore is comfortable with the more technical jargon or legalese used in the legal profession.

For my part, I believe that it wastes the clients and the attorney's time by complicating the process merely to justify the fee that is usually requested after the process is explained.  The process of divorce itself is simple.

Here it is with all the technical jargon stripped from it.

A)  You prepare the Divorce Packet which consists of these completed documents:
              1) 2 Summons
              2) 1 Divorce Complaint and 1 Copy (after it has been signed and witnessed).
              3) 2 Nominal or Uncontested Track Notice Forms
              4) 2 Automatic Orders
              5) 1 Family Court Counseling Forms
              6) 2 Children of the Marriage Forms
              6) 1 Report of Divorce
              7) 1 Notice of the Parental Video Requirement (if there are minor children of the marriage)
              8) 1 Certified Copy of your Marriage Certificate on file with the Bureau of Vital Statistics

B)  You file all these documents with the Family Court Clerk's Office in the county in which you reside or in which your spouse resides together with a check for $100 for the filing fee.  In Providence County you may have to wait a day or two before they completely file your divorce because of the immense volume of domestic matters they handle.

C)  Once filed you get back various certified documents rom the court which need to be served upon your spouse.

D)  You contact the sheriff's department or a constable ("process server") where your spouse lives and have them serve the certified documents upon your spouse.  The process server will report that he or she has or has not served your spouse on the back of the original summons.  Usually your spouse has been served.

E)  You mail the Summons that has the Process Server's Notice of Successful service on the back to the court where you filed your divorce action making sure to note the "Nominal Date" that appears on the Summons.

F)  You try to reach an agreement with your spouse regarding all aspects of your divorce, including placement of children, visitation, division of assets, division of debt, health insurance, child support, alimony and all other things relating to your marriage.

G)  You appear at the court on the Nominal Date.  If you have an agreement, or if your spouse does not show up and is defaulted,  then you place on the record a short hearing . . . called a Nominal which requires you to place on the record those things that are required by law to establish jurisdiction, a marriage, a breakdown of the marriage, inability to reconcile, alimony or waivers of alimony and the items needed for a proper waiver of alimony and any elements of your agreement with your spouse that you want the court to include in any court order.

H)  Within thirty (30) days after your Nominal Hearing you submit to the Court an Interlocutory Decision Pending Entry of the Final Judgment which outlines the courts findings of fact and decisions as set forth by the judge immediately following the Nominal Hearing and specifically states that all the orders of the court are effective but that the parties are not divorced until the entry of Final Judgment of Divorce is signed by the court.

I)  On the ninety-second (92nd) day . . .

[Exerpt] 

To Read the Full Article by Rhode Island Divorce Attorney Chris Pearsall click here.

Authored by:

Christopher A. Pearsall, Esquire
PEARSALL LAW ASSOCIATES
571 Pontiac Avenue
Cranston, RI  02910
Phone:  (401) 354-2369

Attorney Pearsall's practice is focused almost exclusively in the areas of Divorce and Family law.

NOTE:  The postings on this website are NOT legal advice, DO NOT create an attorney/client relationship and are NOT a substitute for a detailed consultation with an attorney experienced in the state where you have your legal issue.  This site is based on Rhode Island and is presented for the convenience of the internet public.

* The Rhode Island Supreme Court licenses all lawyers in the general practice of law and has no procedure for recognition of specialty in any area of law.