If you are thinking about filing for divorce in 2025, taking some steps to prepare now will help ensure that you’ll be ready to get started when the time comes. If you aren’t familiar with the divorce process, learning a little bit about the process will be helpful as well. With this in mind, here is an introduction to what you need to know from an experienced Haddon Heights divorce lawyer.
7 Steps You Can Start Taking Now to Prepare for Your Divorce
Even if you aren’t thinking about filing for divorce until sometime in 2025, there are still several steps you can take now to start to prepare. If you approach your preparations a little bit at a time, they won’t seem overwhelming, and you’ll be able to work at a pace that is comfortable for you.
Some of the first steps for preparing to go through a divorce in New Jersey include:
1. Locating Your Financial and Property Records
A divorce can be a fairly document-intensive process. As a result, one of the most important steps you can take now (and one of the steps that often takes the most time) is to start locating your financial and property records. If possible, you should make copies of records including:
- Recent tax returns
- Recent pay stubs (or other documentation of income )
- Bank account, retirement account, and investment account statements
- Property titles and deeds
- Mortgage statements, car loan statements, and other loan documents
While this list isn’t necessarily comprehensive, this will be enough to get the process started. When you sit down with a Haddon Heights divorce lawyer, your lawyer will be able to walk you through any additional documents you may need based on your specific circumstances.
2. Making a List of Your Assets
Deciding how to divide your marital assets could account for a significant portion of the time you and your spouse spend working on your divorce. But, the first step in the process is to determine which assets are (and aren’t) on the table. You can start by making a list of your assets, and then you will want to make a note of any assets that you acquired either (i) before your marriage, (ii) as a gift, or (iii) through an inheritance.
Why? Because these are (usually) classified as “separate” assets that are not subject to division during the divorce process. If you think your spouse may own any “separate” assets, you will want to make note of this as well.
3. Making a List of Your Debts
You and your spouse will need to divide your marital debts during your divorce as well. With this in mind, you will want to make a list of all debts that you and/or your spouse incurred before or during your marriage. Importantly, even if a debt is only in one spouse’s name, if it was incurred during your marriage, it is still a “marital” debt that will generally be subject to division.
We say “generally” because there are some exceptions. For example, if you and your spouse addressed liability for debts in a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, then the terms of your agreement will override New Jersey’s default rules.
4. Learning About New Jersey’s “Equitable Distribution” Law
If you don’t have a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, then you and your spouse will need to divide your marital assets and debts in accordance with New Jersey’s “equitable distribution law. Given that this law will play such a significant role in your divorce, it will be worth learning some of the basics. You can do that here: What New Jersey’s “Equitable Distribution” Rule Means for Your Divorce.
5. Learning About New Jersey’s “Best Interests” Factors
If you have children from your marriage, New Jersey’s child custody laws will play a major role in your divorce as well. This includes the law that outlines New Jersey’s “best interests” factors for developing a child custody arrangement (or parenting time plan). You can learn about the “best interests” factors here: Determining Child Custody Rights in a New Jersey Divorce.
6. Starting to Prioritize
Since all aspects of the divorce process involve compromise, you will need to think carefully about what you care about most in your divorce. This is especially true with regard to property (and debt) division and child custody. By starting to prioritize now, you can ensure that you are prepared to make difficult decisions should it become necessary to do so.
7. Preparing a List of Questions for Your Divorce Lawyer
As you work through your initial preparations, you should also start a list of questions. When you think of questions you want to ask your divorce lawyer, write them down so you don’t forget. It’s common to have lots of questions—and the more you know, the more confident you will be in your decision-making as you move forward.
What to Expect During the Divorce Process in New Jersey
Now, what do you need to know about the divorce process? The most important thing to know is that there is no “right” way to pursue a divorce. Every couple’s circumstances are different, and what works well for one couple might not work at all for another.
With that said, there are certain steps that are necessary for every divorce, and if you need to take your divorce to court, this has its own set of steps, processes, and procedures. But going to court isn’t necessary in most cases, and if you and your spouse are both willing to work in good faith to achieve an amicable resolution, there is no reason that you shouldn’t be able to do so.
Schedule an Appointment with a Haddon Heights Divorce Lawyer Today
Are you thinking about filing for divorce in 2025? If so, we invite you to contact us for a confidential initial consultation. To discuss your questions with an experienced Haddon Heights divorce lawyer at Helmer, Conley & Kasselman, P.A., call us at 877-435-6371 or request an appointment online today.
