Last Updated on: 22nd June 2025, 04:48 pm

An uncontested divorce conjures thoughts of two people who agree amicably to part ways. When a married couple has no minor children and little, if any property, the process may be as simple as satisfying a waiting. And filling out some forms at the courthouse.

However, not every uncontested divorce is that simple. The route to avoiding a disputed proceeding may take you through several steps and involve a considerable length of time.

What is an Uncontested Divorce?

Section 170 of the Domestic Relations Law affords seven legally sufficient reasons to end a marriage. Some of those likely would be raised only if one of the spouses wants to fight the divorce. Within these grounds lie imprisonment of one of the spouses, abandonment by the other, or other actions that place a spouse in physical or mental danger, and adultery.

Parties who do not fight to divorce will usually seek it on a no-fault basis. These include and irreconcilable breakdown or disintegration of the marriage and a six-month period of such. if the parties separate under a separation agreement, they must live separate and apart for one year before getting a divorce.

As such, an uncontested divorce doesn’t mean just that you and the other party agree to no longer be married. Under New York law, a divorce is not contested when there exists no disputes about any marital issues. This means that you and the other party have agreed on how to divide the marital property, handle alimony or other spousal support and custody and support of the children.

How Do I Get an Uncontested Divorce?

You will need to file in the Supreme Court division a lawsuit to request an uncontested divorce. The court system provides forms that you can use for obtaining an uncontested divorce. If your marriage has been over for at least six months and you have no children under the age of 21, you can use a computerized program to complete the necessary forms. If you have children younger than 21, you use paper forms provided by the court system.

You will need to show with your uncontested divorce request that you have resolved all of the property and financial disputes that may otherwise arise. Having a signed separation agreement goes a long way in that proof. One of our Brooklyn uncontested divorce attorneys can counsel and assist you with preparing a separation agreement.

Other documents that you may submit with an uncontested divorce petition are things such as a domestic violence or similar protection order, your marriage certificate and income, expense or other information to show that you are not able do to extreme financial problems to pay the court fees.

Why Do I Need a Lawyer?

Meet with one of our Brooklyn uncontested divorce lawyers before you plunge into a do-it-yourself legal proceeding.

One of our lawyers will help you understand the consequences of asking for a divorce, especially an uncontested one. When you get an uncontested divorce, that means you enter into a settlement agreement or otherwise resolved any disputes. As a result, you may sacrifice very important rights. These may include your right as a dependent spouse to get alimony or seek a property division.

If you are not careful, you run the risk of settling marital property matters without getting a full view of the marital and separate assets involved and your rights in them. With the services of one of our attorneys, you can obtain a complete list of items such as bank and other financial accounts, retirement plans, employment information and other assets, along with the more tangible and physical items. The process of settling affairs post-marriage also includes listing and allocating debts, such as loans, credit cards and mortgages.

Gathering information represents just one of the tasks involved in getting an uncontested divorce. With information in hand, you or one of our lawyers can help negotiate terms for you in any separation agreement. Depending upon the extent and type of assets, negotiation may prove fairly involved and lengthy. These factors counsel against you trying to navigate an uncontested divorce or other marital dissolution process on your own.

Speak with one of our Brooklyn uncontested divorce lawyers to determine whether an uncontested divorce is best for you if the end of the marriage is imminent.

If you and your spouse are going through a divorce, the most inexpensive and convenient option will be an uncontested divorce. Although it’s easy to get this confused with a no-fault divorce, the two are actually completely different. Here’s what you need to know about going through an uncontested divorce in brooklyn and how an uncontested divorce lawyer could guide you through the process.

How Uncontested Divorce Works

As the name suggests, uncontested divorce is when you go through a divorce, and both you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse agree on all the terms. To comply with New York divorce law, you or your spouse will need to swear under oath that there has been at least six months where your marriage has broken down, and that all potential divorce issues have already been agreed on.

What makes an uncontested divorce different than a no-fault divorce? Contested and uncontested refer to whether the spouses involved in the divorce agree on its terms. A no-fault divorce is when neither spouse is considered at fault for why the divorce has occurred. No-fault divorce is the most common type of divorce in the United States, and every state allows no-fault divorces at this point. However, in a no-fault divorce, the spouses could still disagree on the terms, which means a no-fault divorce could be a contested divorce.

An uncontested divorce is the best option if you and your spouse can agree on everything, as it’s the fastest and cheapest type of divorce. But the two of you do need to agree on everything, because if you need to go to court to resolve anything, then it would no longer qualify as an uncontested divorce.

Areas to Sort Out for an Uncontested Divorce

So, you know that you and your spouse will need to agree on all the terms of the divorce to have an uncontested divorce, but it’s also important to know what those terms are so that you don’t forget anything. The exact terms of the divorce will depend on the circumstances around your marriage, but here are the most common areas you and your spouse may need to sort out:

• Division of property, including all assets and any liabilities you and your spouse have
• Whether one of you will pay spousal support and, if so, the amount that spouse will pay
• If you two have children together, a schedule covering when each of you will have the children
• If you two have children together, whether there will be child support paid by one spouse and, if so, the amount that will be paid

Depending on the assets involved, each spouse’s respective salaries and whether children are involved, there can be quite a bit to figure out for a divorce. It’s important for you and your spouse to take your time and come to a solution that satisfies you both.

You may want to talk to a divorce attorney about the agreement you and your spouse have come to before you go through with the uncontested divorce. Although uncontested divorce is the easiest way to go, you still don’t want to come to an unbalanced agreement that favors your spouse over you.

How a Divorce Attorney Can Help

There is, of course, paperwork that needs to be filed for a divorce to go through, and everything must be filled out correctly for this paperwork to be valid. A divorce attorney can prepare your uncontested divorce paperwork and file it for you, getting you through the divorce process as smoothly as possible.

You’ll need to pay a flat rate for this service, and there are also filing fees for the court. The rate you pay to your attorney will depend on the complexity of your uncontested divorce – even though you’re sorting out everything with your spouse, it still takes an attorney more time to file your uncontested divorce if it involves children and property than if it doesn’t.

Keep in mind that you’ll only get the uncontested rate through your attorney if they’re filing your divorce without any court time. If you and your spouse disagree on something at any point and need to go to court, then it will be considered a contested divorce, both by the court and by your attorney. If you can handle everything uncontested, you and your spouse will pay much less that way.

The decision to get married is one that many couples think about for a long time. People may be engaged for many years before deciding to get married. They may complete an education, begin a career and decide to buy a house. As they do so, they accumulate varied types of financial assets. If people later get married, these assets may be subject to sharing by the other member of the couple. In that instance, it may be best for both parties to do all they can to make sure their financial interests are maintained and protected as they get married. Having a good prenuptial agreement has many important advantages. It allows both parties come to the marriage confident that their financial interests will be protected no matter what happens going forward. It also allows both parties to make sure that they can trust the other party. When one party discloses all of their financial issues in advance this means that the other party is being open and honest before they get married. They are letting the other party know how about their assets in advance. Such honesty can serve as a great foundation for any marriage as it means that the other party understands how much they have and what they can contribute to the marriage.

Working it Out

The decision to get married is one that many couples think about for a long time. People may be engaged for many years before deciding to get married. They may complete an education, begin a career and decide to buy a house. As they do so, they accumulate varied types of financial assets. If people later get married, these assets may be subject to sharing by the other member of the couple. In that instance, it may be best for both parties to do all they can to make sure their financial interests are maintained and protected as they get married. Having a good prenuptial agreement has many important advantages. It allows both parties come to the marriage confident that their financial interests will be protected no matter what happens going forward. It also allows both parties to make sure that they can trust the other party. When one party discloses all of their financial issues in advance this means that the other party is being open and honest before they get married. They are letting the other party know how about their assets in advance. Such honesty can serve as a great foundation for any marriage as it means that the other party understands how much they have and what they can contribute to the marriage.

Specific Details

A good prenuptial agreement will also help with other aspects of the upcoming marriage. For example, it may spell out what is allowed depending on how long the marriage continues. A marriage of only a year or so may leave both parties willing to simply walk away. The prenuptial agreement lets one party keep their assets in the aftermath of a bad breakup. Both parties have what they need to avoid any longer term consequences for a relationship that was not mutually agreeable. The same is true of a longer relationship. If the marriage continues over a decade or longer, both parties may find their financial circumstances have changed. An agreement can recognize this face and make according adjustments that make sense to each member of the relationship. For example, if one party agrees to work while the other chooses to earn a medical or law school degree, the agreement can allow one party to claim part of the earnings of the other party as they have helped contribute to their ability to earn a degree and earn more money. This kind of agreement can cover many types of such circumstances in great and useful detail.

The Children

Any prenuptial agreement can also assist with any kind of childcare arrangements. If each member of the couple decides to bring a child into the relationship, the agreement can help with any kind of financial issues related to the care of the child if they decide to get a divorce. This is why it is important to get everything worked out in advance before getting married. A good attorney will listen to both parties and help them resolve any fiscal issues before they head down the aisle. This means that both parties can go into a marriage fully aware of what it means for them personally financially. It can also mean that both parties are fully clear what it means if the marriage is not working for them. A well-crafted prenuptial agreement is a great way to begin a marriage on the right foot

Last Updated on: 18th August 2025, 08:08 pm

What is an Uncontested Divorce?

While divorce proceedings come with many complications such as child custody arrangements and financial complications such as spousal support and how to distribute debt and property between the two divorcing parties, these issues do not have to raise disputes. Both parties can amicably agree and find compromises on how to handle these issues. An uncontested divorce happens when:

1. If there are no major disagreements on issues such as minor child custody agreements, spousal support, and division of debt and property.

2. If one party fails to show up to court, then they are considered to have agreed to the divorce and the terms of the divorce.

An uncontested divorce is not necessarily as easy as most people tend to think. It is, however, the easiest divorce option. Contested divorces are costly and brutal on the family members especially if children are involved. If asset and liability division has been established and there are no young children from the marriage, then the uncontested divorce will be simple.

How Can an Attorney Help in an Uncontested Divorce?

Divorce is a complex process whether it is contested or uncontested. You will, therefore, need an attorney to guide you through the divorce process. An attorney provides certain expertise that no one else can give you as you go through the process of division of marital property, spousal maintenance, orders of protection, child custody, visitation and support, and insurance issues.

If divorce papers are issued to your spouse, and they are unavailable, then an attorney is able to advise on alternative methods that you can use to ensure you finalize your divorce.

In the unlikely and unfortunate event that your spouse neglects the initial divorce agreement, then a lawyer can come in to mediate between you two to make sure the uncontested divorce does not turn into a contested divorce.

An attorney is well-informed on all the different aspects of divorce proceedings and what you are entitled to from the marriage. Thus, if you represent yourself, you might miss out on what is rightfully and legally yours simply because of ignorance.

Going to court should be avoided as much as possible during divorce. It is recommended that couples consider collaborative law or divorce mediation to make the process least stressful for themselves and their family. An attorney is in an excellent position to provide suggestions of the most experienced mediators. If this does not work, then couples can opt for collaborative law where they deal with their lawyers to resolve the issues that might be hindering the process from being finalized.

Every divorce is unique and different methods could be used to make the process as pain-free as possible.

In some instances, individuals are unsure of whether they meet the requirements for getting divorced in the state New York. In this case, an attorney is required to provide consultation services. They are best placed to advise a couple if they satisfy the requirements. Additionally, there are certain residency requirements that individuals need to meet before being allowed to divorce in New York.

Rules Governing Uncontested Divorces in Brooklyn

There are two basic requirements that should be met before the process of divorce can begin in New York.

1. Residency requirements should be met as stipulated in the Domestic Relations Law ‘170.

2. Grounds for divorce should be satisfied as per the stipulations in New York laws.

Residency Requirements

Either one of the following residency requirements should be met by individuals who want to divorce in Brooklyn.

1. You and your spouse should have been living in the state of New York for a continuous period of 2 years before you start the divorce process.

2. You and your spouse should have been living in the state of New York for a continuous period of 1 year. Additionally, either one of the following should apply: Your wedding ceremony was in New York, or you and your spouse resided in New York while married.

3. You and your spouse resided in New York for a period of one year on a continuous basis immediately before the date of the divorce process, and the grounds for divorce must be valid in New York.

4. Lastly, you and your spouse must be New York residents on the date you file for divorce.

Acceptable Grounds for Divorce in Brooklyn, New York

The following are acceptable grounds to divorce in New York.

1. Cruel or Inhuman Treatment. This is treatment by one spouse that endangers the physical and mental health of the other. You cannot use insanity to justify inhumane treatment, and your spouse can still divorce you.

2. Adultery. If adultery has acquiesced for 5 years, then it is considered to be forgiven by the law.

3. Abandonment. If you abandon your spouse for more than a year with no intention of going back to them and without their consent, they can file for divorce.

4. Separate Living as per a Separation Judgment.

5. Separate Living as Per a Separation Agreement

6. Minimum of 6 months of an Irretrievable Breakdown. This is the most recent ground for divorce and is also known as a no-fault divorce.

7. Imprisonment of More Than 3 Years. The imprisonment should be after marriage and should be for 3 or more consecutive years.

Uncontested divorces are less complicated than contested divorces, but still have their own complications that are best handled by a Brooklyn, divorce lawyer.