Six Months Have Passed, I Am Divorced Right?

NO, you are not divorced!!! This is a myth that has gotten a number of people in trouble.

The code provides that you can be an unmarried person in six months and one day after the Respondent was served. Notice, you can be, not you are an unmarried person.

So how does this all work? Say you resolve your case and the Judgment is sent to court three months after the Respondent was served. The court will sign the Judgment and it will become a binding court order. On the face of the Judgment is a place the court stamps the day you are an unmarried person. Since, in this hypothetical, you were done in three months, you have not met the six month time frame. The court will stamp a date six months and one day from the date the papers were served on the face sheet.

Let’s say it takes a year to get the issues resolved. You are not divorced just because the six months passed. You will be married until the court signs the Judgment. Again there is a place on the face sheet where the court will fill in the date you are an unmarried person. So you will be married until the date the court signs the Judgment.

If you want to be an unmarried person as soon as possible, you can request the issue of your marital status be addressed by the court prior to resolving the other issues. This is called a Bifurcation of Marital Status. It is not automatic; you have to formally request it. The court may or may not grant your request depending on issues related to health insurance and/or retirement plans.