Assuming you meet the residential requirements for divorce in Wyoming and have valid grounds, you can begin the court process.
This will usually involve the following steps:
- Filing the right divorce papers – go to your local courthouse and pick up the forms you need. A clerk there can help with this but will not help you complete them. If you have trouble filling the forms out, speak to a divorce attorney.
- Even if you are filing for divorce amicably (as in an uncontested divorce), you will need to ensure that your spouse receives a copy of the papers. This is called “serving” the papers and, again, your divorce attorney can advise you if you are not sure what to do. Serving papers must be done in the correct way to prove to the court that your spouse has seen them.
- If your spouse disagrees with anything in the divorce papers, an opportunity is provided for him or her to file papers in response, expressing their version of events or challenging the divorce.
- If your spouse does not respond within 20 days, the divorce will proceed as “uncontested”.
- If the divorce is contested, the judge may order mediation or a series of court appearances to sort out the issues.
- You and your spouse must sort out property/asset/debt division, as well as child custody, child support, spousal support and any other outstanding or disputed issues. In uncontested divorces, these may be agreed relatively quickly between spouses around the kitchen table but in contested divorces, the disputes can become bitter and protracted – and can take many months or even years to resolve in court.
