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Common Questions about What You Can Do If Your Spouse Filed for Divorce and You Do Not Have Minor Children
Contents
These are common questions about what you can do if your spouse files for divorce and you do not have minor children.
Questions about What to Do After You Get Notice that Your Spouse Filed for Divorce
Read Being a Defendant in a Divorce Case to learn what you can do if your spouse files for divorce.
You must tell the court about all other court cases between you and your spouse. If a prior case is still active, the court might not have jurisdiction in a new case. If you have a prior divorce case that might be active, consider talking to a lawyer. Use the Guide to Legal Help to find lawyers or legal services in your area.
Representing yourself in a divorce case is not easy. Consider talking with a lawyer about your rights and options even if you decide not to hire one.
The more complicated the issues in your divorce are, the more important it may be to have a lawyer. Consider talking to a lawyer if:
- You own real estate;
- You have a pension or retirement account;
- You have children that were born while you were married, but one spouse is not the parent;
- You need spousal support (alimony);
- Your spouse has been emotionally, verbally or physically abusive;
- You and your spouse disagree on one or more major issues in your divorce.
Use the Guide to Legal Help to find a lawyer or legal services in your area.
Serve your spouse with a copy of every paper you file in the divorce case. If you are the Defendant, do this by mailing the papers by first class mail to your spouse at the address listed on the summons. If your spouse has a lawyer, you must mail the papers to the lawyer instead of your spouse.
Complete a Proof of Mailing form each time you mail your spouse papers. File the Proof of Mailing with the court clerk's office in the county where your divorce case is located.
You can’t stop your spouse from getting a divorce. Michigan is a “no fault” divorce state. This means no one has to prove cheating, abandonment, abuse, or anything else to get divorced.
Even if one of you tells the judge, “I don’t want a divorce,” the other spouse can still get one. If the Defendant does not file an answer or participate in the case, decisions about marital property, debt, and children will get made without their input.
No. Michigan is a “no-fault” divorce state. This means your spouse doesn’t have to prove cheating, abandonment, cruelty, or anything else to get a divorce. Your spouse can get a divorce even if they did something to cause the breakdown of your marriage.
The legal standard for a Michigan divorce is:
- There has been a breakdown of the marriage;
- The objects of matrimony have been destroyed; and
- There is no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be saved.
This means there has been a serious, permanent, marital breakdown. It means it is very unlikely you and your spouse can work things out.
Your divorce is uncontested if you and your spouse agree on all of the divorce issues or if your spouse doesn’t participate. Usually you can handle an uncontested divorce yourself, but you might need a lawyer if the issues in your case are complicated. A contested divorce means you and your spouse disagree about some of the major issues in your divorce. This could include things like:
- Property or debt division
- Custody or parenting time
- Child support
- Spousal support
If you have a contested divorce, consider talking to a lawyer. If you have low income, you may qualify for free legal services. Use the Guide to Legal Help to find a lawyer or legal services in your area.
Yes. Michigan law only requires that either you or your spouse live here. However, the court’s jurisdiction might be limited. This means the court can grant your divorce, but might not be able to decide all the issues in the divorce, such as child support. If Michigan has limited jurisdiction in your case, consider talking to a lawyer.
Yes. To get your court fees waived, you must file a Fee Waiver Request. This form tells the court that you can't afford to pay the fees in your case, and it asks for a waiver. You can use the Do-It-Yourself Fee Waiver tool to complete the affidavit.
Yes, you can file for divorce if you are pregnant or your spouse is pregnant. You must tell the judge about the pregnancy in your Complaint for Divorce.
The judge may require you to wait for your divorce to become final until after the birth. A judge might do this to make sure the custody, parenting time, and child support provisions in the Judgment of Divorce are complete. Or the judge may sign the Judgment of Divorce but require you to return to court after the birth to add custody, parenting time, and child support provisions to the Judgment of Divorce.
Questions about What Will Happen During a Divorce Case
It depends. There is a 60 day waiting period if:
- There were no children born during your marriage and
- Neither you nor your spouse is pregnant
There is a six month waiting period if:
- There were children born during your marriage or
- You are pregnant or your spouse is pregnant
The waiting period starts when you file for divorce. The court will require you to wait until the end of the waiting period to enter your judgment of divorce. In a divorce with children, the judge can waive part of the waiting period if your case involves unusual hardship or a compelling need to shorten the waiting period. The judge cannot make the total waiting period less than 60 days. To learn more, read Introduction to Divorce with Minor Children.
The waiting period is the minimum time your divorce will take. If you and your spouse disagree about major issues, it can take much longer than the waiting period to get divorced.
Some things that get decided in a divorce without minor children are:
- That your marriage is dissolved
- Division of your marital property and debt
- Whether one spouse should pay spousal support
Yes. You and your spouse can work out your own settlement.
In a divorce with children, the judge will also ask you questions at your final hearing to make sure that the custody and parenting time agreements are in your children’s best interests. For more information on how the court views the best interests of children, read the article The “Best Interests of the Child" Factors.
If you agree to a child support amount, the judge will decide whether to approve it. In general, child support is calculated using the Michigan Child Support Formula. The judge can approve a change from the formula amount only if they determine that applying the formula would be unjust or inappropriate given the facts of your case.
Domestic relations mediation is a process that the court can use to help resolve contested issues in a family law case. The mediator is a neutral person who helps you and the other party work out an agreement in your case. You could be referred to mediation if you agree to it or if the judge orders it. You and the other party will pay the mediator a fee.
Some cases are not appropriate for mediation. Your case might be excused from mediation for any of the following reasons:
- You or the other party have a personal protection order against the other
- Your children have been abused or neglected
- There has been domestic violence in your relationship, unless you both have attorneys at the mediation sessions
- You or the other party is unable to negotiate for themselves at the mediation, unless you both have attorneys at the mediation sessions
- There is reason to believe that the health or safety of one or both of you will be put at risk by mediation
Arbitration is an alternative to trial when the parties have an issue or issues in their case that they don't agree on. Arbitration is a voluntary process. This means that both parties have to agree to go to arbitration, and they must agree on what issue(s) the arbitrator will decide.
Arbitration is different from mediation because the arbitrator’s decisions are binding in the same way that a judge's decisions are binding. The arbitrator is a neutral third party who is trained in making these decisions. Their decisions become part of the final judgment in a court case. The parties pay the arbitrator a fee to hear and decide their case.
It is not against any law to date during your divorce. But, dating could affect some of the issues in your divorce, like custody and parenting time. The judge in your case could also order you and your spouse not to have someone you are dating around your children during your divorce.
If you are a woman and you changed your last name when you were married, you have the choice of keeping your married name or changing it in your divorce. Your Judgment of Divorce can restore your maiden name or the last name you used before your marriage. Or, the judge can allow you to take a different last name. However, you must not be asking for the name change to commit fraud or for another bad purpose. For example, you can’t change your name to avoid a creditor or hide a criminal record.
The law in Michigan doesn’t work the same way for men. Men aren’t able to change their name automatically when they divorce. Instead, they must go through the process of petitioning the court for a name change. To learn more, see the Name Change toolkit.
Your marital home will be part of the property settlement in your divorce. The decision about ownership of the home will not be determined by who moves out. Instead, the decision will be made when all of the marital property and debts are divided.
Even if you and your spouse agree that you can stay in the home, your spouse will probably want to be paid for their share of the home. If you do stay in your marital home, you will have to figure out how to continue to pay your mortgage after your divorce. Usually when you are awarded property in a divorce, you also become responsible for the debt related to the property.
Sometimes the marital home must be sold because it is too expensive for one person.
No. Although Michigan law requires parents to provide health insurance for their children, there are no such laws for a spouse. However, the court may require your spouse to maintain your health insurance during the divorce process.
Additionally, under COBRA (a federal law) your spouse's employer must allow you to be covered by its health insurer for three years after your divorce. However, you must pay the premiums, which will probably be more expensive than when you were covered as a spouse. Also, COBRA doesn’t apply to very small companies (those that have less than 20 employees).
The Friend of the Court (FOC) is part of the family division of the circuit court. The FOC helps the court in cases involving custody, parenting time, and child support. Some of the duties the FOC performs are:
- Investigating and issuing recommendations about custody, parenting time, and child support
- Helping the parties settle disputes during and after their case
- Providing enforcement services on existing custody, parenting time, and support orders
To learn more, read Friend of the Court Overview.
If a Friend of the Court (FOC) referee issues a recommendation in your case and you do not file an objection within 21 days after you are served, the recommendation can become an order. However, the judge is not bound by a FOC recommendation and can choose not to make it an order.
You may be able to opt out of FOC services in your case if both you and the other party agree to opt out.
To learn more, read Friend of the Court Overview.
If you are a person with a disability and have to go to court, you can ask the court to provide you with an accommodation so you can fully participate in the court activity.
To make your request, use the Do-It-Yourself Request for Accommodations tool and mail or deliver the form to the court administrator in the court where the activity will take place.
You should mail or deliver your Request for Accommodations as early as possible so the court can consider it and arrange for the accommodation(s) if it grants your request. If you don’t file your request before the court activity starts, but the activity is on-going (like a hearing that lasts more than a day), file your request as soon as you can.
Examples of accommodations that may be available are:
- Interpreter for people who are deaf (such as a sign language interpreter)
- Assistive listening device
- Handicap accessibility (such as use of a service animal)
- Other accommodations depending on your need
Each court has an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator. You can find your court’s ADA Coordinator using the Directories page of the Michigan Courts One Court of Justice website.
If you do not change your last name when you divorce, you may later decide to change your name. In that case, you must go through the process of petitioning the court for a name change. To learn more, see the Name Change toolkit.
In your divorce, there will be decisions that affect children who have both you and your spouse as legal parents.
If you and your spouse are the opposite sex (female and male), children who are included in your divorce are:
- Minor children born or conceived during your marriage,
- Minor stepchildren who were legally adopted by the other spouse, and
- Minor children you and your spouse had together who were born before your marriage, as long as the husband's paternity was established by Affidavit of Parentage or court order
In Michigan, a husband is the legal father of any child born or conceived during the marriage. When a child has a different biological father, either spouse can ask the judge to revoke (undo) the husband's paternity so he is no longer the legal father. To learn more, use the I Need to Revoke Paternity Established by Marriage: Tools for the Mother toolkit or the I Need to Revoke Paternity Established by Marriage: Tools for the Legal/Presumed Father toolkit.
If you and your spouse are the same sex, read Separation and Divorce: an Overview for Same-sex Families to learn which children will be included in your divorce. There are several different ways that legal parentage may have been established in Michigan, depending on many factors discussed in the article. In addition, parentage may have been established in a state other than Michigan in ways that were not/are not available in Michigan.
When your child is born, you can file a Motion or Complaint to Determine Child Born Out of Wedlock. To ask the judge to revoke (undo) your husband’s status as legal father, either you, your husband, or the biological father must file this motion or complaint. Otherwise, your husband will be your child’s legal father, and the biological father will not have any parental rights or responsibilities.
You can use the Do-It-Yourself Revoke Paternity Established by Marriage tool to prepare the forms you need to ask the judge to revoke your husband's paternity.
Questions about Alimony, Property, and Debt in a Divorce
In general, all the property and debt you and your spouse acquired during your marriage gets divided in a divorce. The property and debt division must be fair. This usually means a 50/50 split, where each spouse gets an equal share. But a fair division of property and debt does not always mean a 50/50 split. There may be reasons to divide the property and debt 60/40 or some other way.
During a divorce the parties normally try to reach an agreement on how to divide property and debt. If the parties can’t agree, a judge will decide on a fair division. To decide what is fair in your case, the judge may consider:
- The length of the marriage
- Contributions to the marital estate (Contributions include income and other contributions, like being the primary parent)
- How old each party is
- How each party's health is
- The parties' standard of living
- The needs of each party
- The ability of each party to earn money
- The conduct of the parties leading to the separation
- Fairness
Property one of you had before your marriage can also be divided in some cases to create a fair division. To learn more, read Divorce Basics: Dividing Your Property and Debt.
Separate property is usually not divided as part of a divorce. Separate property includes property that:
- One spouse owned before the marriage
- One spouse receives as an inheritance or gift
Separate property is normally kept by the owner. But, the court can divide separate property in your divorce if:
- The marital property is not enough to support the non-owner spouse and children; or
- The non-owner spouse contributed to getting the property, improving it, or growing it.
To learn more, read Divorce Basics: Dividing Your Property and Debt.
Alimony (spousal support) is not common. You and your spouse can agree that you should get spousal support as part of your divorce. However, if you don’t agree, the judge must decide the issue in a trial. When deciding whether to order spousal support, the judge will consider:
- How the parties conducted their marriage and the conduct leading to the breakdown of the marriage
- The length of the marriage
- Whether each party can work
- How much property (and what kind of property) each party is getting in the divorce
- The ages of the parties
- Whether either party can pay spousal support
- The current living situation of the parties
- The needs of each party
- The health of each party
- The prior standard of living of the parties
- Whether either party has other people to support
- What each party has contributed to the joint estate
- Whether either party lives with someone else
- Fairness
To learn more, read Spousal Support (Alimony) in a Nutshell.
A prenuptial agreement can be enforced if:
- It is in writing and signed by you and your spouse;
- You signed it voluntarily and with full disclosure;
- There was no fraud, mistake, or bullying;
- It was fair when you signed it, and circumstances have not changed enough to make its enforcement unfair.
If you signed a prenuptial agreement and are filing for divorce, consider talking to a lawyer. If you need a lawyer and have low income, you may qualify for free legal help. You can use the Guide to Legal Help to find lawyers and legal services in your area.
In general, the part of a pension or retirement plan that is accrued during a marriage is marital property. The nonemployee spouse is entitled to a share of that part. One way of dividing this asset is to give the nonemployee spouse different assets equal to their interest in the retirement benefit.
No. Quitclaim deeds are used to transfer real property, such as houses and land. Cars and mobile homes are not real property.
Cars and mobile homes are properties that use titles to transfer ownership, not deeds. Neither your Judgment of Divorce nor the judge will transfer a title for you. You and your spouse must sign and file the paperwork with the Secretary of State to transfer title to a car or mobile home.
You need a new deed to transfer real estate after your divorce if your name and your ex-spouse’s name are both on the current deed. You also need a new deed if the current deed is not in the name of the person keeping the property.
It is possible for a Judgment of Divorce to transfer the property. After a divorce, ex-spouses usually use a deed to transfer property so that the Judgment of Divorce is not part of the property records that anyone can search. But if your ex-spouse does not complete their part of the quitclaim deed, you can transfer the property by recording your Judgment of Divorce at the Register of Deeds.
No. The judge will not change the names on a deed for you. You have to prepare and complete a quitclaim deed and record it with the Register of Deeds.
You can use a quitclaim deed or a warranty deed to transfer your property. Unlike warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds do not make any guarantees about the property title. With a quitclaim deed, the person selling or giving up the property is not responsible for any title defects.
It is common to use a quitclaim deed to transfer property after a divorce because people who have been married are likely to know about the property they are getting and if there is clear title. If you have concerns about title, you may want to consider using a warranty deed instead and doing a title search.
To learn more about the difference between quitclaim deeds and warranty deeds, read the article Quitclaim Deeds and Divorce.
If your ex-spouse does not sign the quitclaim deed or give it to you so you can record it, you have two options. You can file a motion asking the judge to enforce the Judgment of Divorce, and the judge can order your ex-spouse to prepare a quitclaim deed. Or you can file a motion to show cause. If you do this, the judge may find that your ex-spouse is in contempt of court and require them to pay a fine or spend time in jail for disobeying the judgment. To learn more, read Post-Divorce Judgment Issues – Property and Spousal Support.
If you don’t want to go back to court, you can take your Judgment of Divorce to the Register of Deeds and record it instead of the quitclaim deed. If you do this, anyone searching the title to the property will be able to see your entire Judgment of Divorce.
No. A quitclaim deed will not change who is responsible for the mortgage. The person keeping the property will need to refinance the mortgage in their name alone. However, this may not be possible if the property is worth less than the amount of the mortgage, if the person keeping the property has bad credit, or for other reasons.
If you are the person transferring your property to your ex-spouse, you must sign the quitclaim deed in front of a notary. Then give the deed to your ex-spouse. Your ex-spouse will need to sign the deed and take it to be recorded at the Register of Deeds.
A notary can usually be found at a bank or the court clerk's office.
If you or your ex-spouse prepared a quitclaim deed using the Do-It-Yourself Quitclaim Deed (after Divorce) tool, detailed instructions will print out with the deed.
Questions about Domestic Violence and Divorce
Domestic violence is serious and can impact the issues in your family law case. If the other party has been verbally, emotionally, or physically abusive, consider talking to a lawyer. If you have low income, you may qualify for free legal services. Whether you have low income or not, you can use the Guide to Legal Help to find lawyers in your area.
It could. Michigan is a “no fault” divorce state, which means you don’t have to prove your spouse did something wrong to get a divorce. But the judge can consider fault to decide how to divide your property and debt.
It could. Michigan is a “no fault” divorce state, which means you don’t have to prove your spouse did something wrong to get a divorce. However, the judge can still consider fault to decide whether to award spousal support.