There are two forms of divorce:
Uncontested Divorce
An uncontested divorce is a divorce where both parties agree to the divorce, or one party does not oppose the divorce. An uncontested divorce can proceed by "simple divorce" or "joint divorce".
The process of obtaining an uncontested divorce, or joint divorce, involves the drafting, signing, and filing of the applicable forms and the payment of the applicable fees to the Minister of Finance. From the date of the finalization of the divorce documents to the receipt of the final divorce order typically takes approximately 90 days. The Family Law Court sends the divorce order to each party directly by regular mail.
Obtaining an uncontested or joint divorce can often be more complicated than one would think. A number of documents must be drafted and at least one affidavit of divorce must be sworn, and filed with the Court.
Courts will routinely deny the request for a divorce if there are unresolved property issues, or if the child support arrangements are deemed inadequate by the judge. For instance, in situations where the parties agree that child support would be an amount lower than what is provided by the Child Support Guidelines, the court will often deny the granting of the divorce order. The reasoning, particularly when it comes to child support, is that child support is the right for the child. Thus parents cannot contract out of a right that is not theirs.
Contested Divorce
A contested divorce is one where one of the parties does not consent to the divorce being issued.
Typically, the only ground under which one can oppose a divorce is if issues relating to support or property division have not been resolved.
When the term contested divorce is used in practice, it is often meant to designate cases where the parties were married. They resort to the courts to determine a given issue, such as custody, access, property division and so on.
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