Potpourri: Appearance Matters & Uncontested Divorce Hearings: What to Expect

Prologue: Appearance Matters

Last Friday, I had a final uncontested divorce hearing in a county where I have never appeared before.  I’ve been doing final hearings since pretty much my first week as a practicing attorney, they are quite simple, very scripted and, while it’s important to have an attorney there just in case anything is filed improperly or the judge has questions (other than the normal questions), in general, it doesn’t take a genius to do a final uncontested divorce hearing. I’ll be giving a quick, basic rundown of a final hearing after this, but what's a Wednesday before Thanksgiving entry without a little unsolicited personal advice?.

 So back to the final hearing in strange court: I was SO nervous. And it wasn’t the strange court, (I’d been to strange courts before and have learned to just ask court staff in a friendly manner), and it wasn’t the case (the other attorney was sending a replacement, my client was fab and the other client wasn't even attending), it wasn’t even the judge (it’s a VERY simple final hearing, not much judge interaction).  It was, wonder of wonders, my outfit.  I like wearing black suits to court, they make me feel confident and lawyer-y, and I don’t know why, but they make me feel like I’m taken more seriously by other attorneys (a blog article for another day). I mean look at how great a black suit looks!! But my only clean black suit (um, yeah, I’m a pretty lazy drycleaner) had somehow been dragged out of the closet by the dog and cuddled in while he slept.  We're talking an 87 lb Weimeraner (the one in the photo above) so this was no small wrinkle a little light ironing could fix.  So my only options were non-black suits.  I went with a tan one, nice enough, Brooks Brothers in fact, gift from my mom, but the whole morning I just didn’t feel ‘right.’ I felt rushed and awkward and nervous, all because of a stupid suit!! And that's pretty much the point of the story.

Moral of this Prologue: Appearance matters. It definitely matters to the people you encounter, but it also matters to you.  If you’re feeling nervous about a court date (this is a law blog after all), a mediation session, or even a consultation with a client or lawyer, DRESS THE PART! It’s an oft-forgotten piece of advice but, as reporter Brian Fantana says in Anchorman: 60% of the time, it works every time.

Ok, so here’s your useful law portion of today’s article. 

WHAT HAPPENS AT A FINAL DIVORCE HEARING

After a divorce has been settled, the parties agree on everything and sign and file all the documents, there is a final divorce hearing. There are essentially "3 Parts."  The order in which these 3 parts occur depends on the judge. Also, sometimes the questions are asked by the judge, not the attorney.  In the wild, wild, west of Massachusetts, the attorney for one party asks the questions but I have found that back east in ye olde Suffolk County of Massachusetts, the judge does the asking.

PART 1: Establishing the Marriage

(also referred to as “Establishing the Breakdown”)

Atty: State your name and address for the record, spelling your last name.

Client: {states name and address, spells last name}

Atty: And were you married to {Spouse’s name} on {date of marriage} at {place of marriage}?

Client: {assuming Atty got names, places and dates correct} Yes.

Atty: And did you last live with {Spouse} in {Place} on {Date}?

Client: {assuming Atty got names, places and dates correct} Yes.

Atty: And on or around {date} did an irretrievable breakdown of your marriage occur?

Client: {assuming what Atty said is true} Yes.

Atty: Can you describe the breakdown?

NOTE: This is NOT the part of the hearing where anyone gives a detailed account of the underlying facts of why the marriage REALLY ended. This is just a BRIEF, cryptic and vague description.

Client: We no longer could communicate and no longer had common goals {or something similar to that effect}.

Atty: And is there any hope for reconciliation?

Client: {if what Atty said is true} No.

Atty: And has there been any previous action for divorce, separate support, annulment or the like?

Client: {assuming what Atty said is true}: No.

Atty: Nothing further your honor.

PART 2: Summarizing the Separation Agreement

The judge then asks one of the attorneys to summarize the Separation Agreement.  If the parties are unrepresented, the judge may summarize it him or herself, or may have already read the Separation Agreement beforehand (this is pretty rare). 

PART 3: Judge's Questions 

(The Colloquy)

After the judge understands the basic elements of the parties’ agreement, (s)he then asks both parties some questions. I will give you the basic questions, but each judge is a little different in their exact wording so this is really just a very simple and basic example of what to expect.

Judge: Did you both read this?

Parties: {if what Judge said is true} Yes.

Judge: Do you understand it?

Parties: {if what Judge said is true} Yes.

Judge: Did you sign it willingly and voluntarily?

Parties: {if what Judge said is true} Yes.

Judge: {if there’s an alimony waiver} This contains a permanent waiver of alimony. Do you understand that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for either of you to seek alimony from the other in the future.

Parties: {if what Judge said is true} Yes.

Judge: You have each filed financial statements. Have you had the opportunity to look at each other’s financial statements?

Parties: {if what Judge said is true} Yes.

Judge: And do you feel that there has been full financial disclosure by the other party to you?

Parties: {if what Judge said is true} Yes.

Judge: Then I will find the marriage is irretrievably broken and grant you a divorce….HUZZAH!!!

Ok, so the Judge doesn’t really say Huzzah, but I needed a fancy ending. There you have it.