To file for divorce you need proof you meet your state’s residency requirement, a complete set of financial records for both spouses, the court’s petition and financial disclosure forms filled out accurately, the filing fee (or an approved waiver), and a plan for formally serving your spouse once the case is open. What you need for a divorce is less about any single document than about having each of those pieces ready before you walk into the clerk’s office, because gaps at the start create problems that follow the case all the way to judgment.
Confirm Residency and Choose Your Grounds
Every state requires at least one spouse to be a resident before its courts will take the case. A handful of states have no minimum residency period, others require up to a full year, and most sit in the three-to-six-month range. You generally file in the county where you or your spouse currently lives. Check your state’s exact rule before anything else; filing in the wrong state or too early gets your case dismissed.
You also have to state a legal reason for the divorce. Every state offers some form of no-fault divorce, usually phrased as irreconcilable differences or an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, which means neither spouse has to prove the other did anything wrong. Some states still allow fault grounds like adultery or cruelty, but those require evidence of specific misconduct and rarely change the outcome. For most people, no-fault is faster, simpler, and cheaper.
One boundary worth knowing up front: if either spouse is on active military duty, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act lets the service member request a stay of at least 90 days on the proceeding. The protection is not automatic. The service member has to ask for it with a letter explaining how duties prevent a court appearance and a commanding officer’s letter confirming military leave is not authorized.
Gather Your Financial Documents
Financial disclosure is the backbone of every divorce case. Courts need a complete picture of what both spouses earn, own, and owe before they can divide anything. Incomplete or inaccurate disclosures can draw sanctions, and intentionally hiding assets can lead to contempt findings. This is where most of your preparation time goes, and shortcuts here cause problems that echo through the rest of the case.
Start pulling the following as early as you can:
- At least two years of federal and state tax returns, recent pay stubs, and W-2 or 1099 forms. If either spouse is self-employed, add profit-and-loss statements and business tax returns.
- Recent statements for every checking, savings, brokerage, and retirement account either spouse holds, whether individual or joint.
- Deeds for real estate, vehicle titles, and documentation for other significant assets like jewelry, collectibles, or intellectual property.
- Current statements for mortgages, car loans, student loans, credit cards, medical debt, and personal loans, including accounts in only one spouse’s name.
- Life, health, auto, disability, and homeowner’s insurance policies, with beneficiary designations.
- Social Security numbers for both spouses and any minor children, plus the exact dates of your marriage and separation.
Pull debt documents with the same care as asset documents. Debts incurred during the marriage are generally treated as marital obligations regardless of whose name is on the account, so a credit card used for household expenses can be assigned to either spouse even if only one signed for it. Debts one spouse took on secretly or purely for personal purposes unrelated to the marriage may be treated differently, especially where there is evidence of financial misconduct.
If a Business Is Involved
If either spouse owns a business or professional practice, expect valuation to add time and expense. Courts generally look at a business through one of three lenses: assets minus liabilities, the present value of projected future income, or what comparable businesses have sold for recently. The line between goodwill attached to the business itself and goodwill tied to the owner’s personal reputation often becomes a central issue. For anything beyond a simple sole proprietorship, a forensic accountant or business appraiser is usually necessary.
If You Suspect Hidden Assets
When a spouse’s lifestyle does not match their reported income, or money seems to be disappearing, formal discovery can uncover what is being concealed. Common tactics include secret bank accounts, transfers of property to friends or family with plans to reclaim it later, underreported income on tax returns, and simply failing to disclose valuables. A forensic accountant can trace cash flow, analyze financial records for inconsistencies, and review business books to surface what a spouse is trying to keep off the table.
Fill Out the Court Forms
Once your financial records are organized, the next step is the paperwork itself. The core document is the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage (the exact name varies by state), which identifies both spouses, states the grounds, and sets out what you are asking the court to decide: property division, custody, support, or all of them. Along with the petition, most courts require a financial disclosure form where you transfer all the income, expense, asset, and debt information you gathered into a standardized format.
The forms are available through your local court clerk’s office or your state judiciary’s website. Match your figures exactly to the supporting documents. Enter gross monthly income before taxes and deductions, then list every monthly obligation. Any discrepancy between your filed forms and the underlying tax returns or bank statements can damage your credibility, and in a bad case can expose you to perjury allegations.
If you changed your name when you married and want your former name back, include that request in the petition or raise it before the divorce is finalized. The court will fold the name restoration into the final judgment, which saves you a separate name-change proceeding later.
Pay the Filing Fee or Request a Waiver
When you hand the petition to the court clerk, you pay a filing fee. Fees run roughly $100 to $450 depending on the state, with some under $200 and others over $400. If you cannot afford the fee, virtually every state allows you to request a waiver based on your income, receipt of public benefits, or inability to cover basic needs while paying court costs. The clerk assigns a case number once your paperwork is accepted.
Keep in mind that the filing fee is only the entry cost. If the case stays uncontested and simple, your total out-of-pocket may not climb much higher. If it turns contested, attorney fees for a disputed divorce commonly reach $10,000 to $15,000 per spouse.
Serve Your Spouse and Wait for a Response
After filing, copies of the divorce papers have to be formally delivered to your spouse. You cannot do this yourself. A third party, usually a process server or a sheriff’s deputy, handles delivery and then files a Proof of Service with the court confirming your spouse received notice. Process servers typically charge $50 to $200.
Your spouse then has a window to respond, usually 20 to 30 days depending on the state. If they do not respond within that period, you can ask the court for a default judgment, and the judge may grant what you requested in the petition without your spouse’s input.
Know the Waiting Period and What You Can Ask For During It
Most states impose a mandatory waiting period between filing and the final judgment. A few have none; others require up to six months; the majority sit between 30 and 90 days. Nothing speeds this up. It is a built-in cooling-off period.
The waiting period is not dead time. In several states, the divorce summons itself carries automatic temporary restraining orders that take effect the moment papers are served. These typically prohibit both spouses from transferring or hiding assets, changing beneficiaries on insurance policies, taking children out of state, or canceling health coverage. You do not have to request them. Violating them can lead to contempt. Even in states that do not issue automatic orders, you can ask the court for temporary orders that accomplish the same thing.
If you need financial support, a custody schedule, or exclusive use of the family home while the case is pending, you can file a motion for temporary orders (sometimes called pendente lite relief). Courts routinely grant temporary child support, spousal support, and interim custody schedules to keep things stable until the final judgment replaces them.
What You’ll Need if You Have Minor Children
If you have minor children, the divorce cannot be finalized without a custody arrangement and a child support order. Courts evaluate both through the child’s best interest, not the parents’ preferences.
A parenting plan has to cover legal custody (who makes major decisions about education, healthcare, and religious upbringing) and physical custody (where the child lives). Either can be sole or joint. The plan should include a detailed schedule covering school days, weekends, holidays, summer breaks, and special occasions. Vague language like “reasonable visitation” invites conflict; specific schedules prevent disputes later.
Many states require both parents to complete a parenting education class before the divorce is finalized. At least 17 states mandate the class for all divorcing parents regardless of whether the case is contested. The classes typically run a few hours and cost anywhere from free to $150.
For support, 41 states use the income shares model, which aims to give the child the same proportion of parental income they would have received if the family were still intact. Both parents’ net incomes are combined, a guidelines table sets a base support figure based on that combined income and the number of children, and each parent’s share is proportional to their contribution to the total. The noncustodial parent typically pays the custodial parent to cover their share. Shared custody arrangements adjust the calculation for duplicated household expenses.
Decide Whether You Need an Attorney
Before you file, be honest with yourself about which kind of case you are headed into. In an uncontested divorce, both spouses agree on property division, support, and custody; the court reviews the agreement and signs off without a trial. These cases can wrap up in a few months. A contested divorce means you disagree on at least one significant issue, which triggers negotiation, possibly mediation, and potentially a trial. Contested cases routinely run a year or longer, and attorney fees reflect every hour spent on the disputed issues.
You have the right to represent yourself. For a truly uncontested case with minimal assets, no children, and a short marriage, filing pro se is workable, and clerks’ offices and state judiciary websites provide the forms and basic instructions. But self-represented parties are held to the same procedural standards as licensed attorneys. The court will not cut you slack for a missed deadline or a wrong form.
An attorney becomes important when significant assets are at stake, when children are involved, when one spouse controlled the finances during the marriage, or when there is any history of domestic violence. Hourly rates for divorce attorneys typically run $100 to $300 or more depending on experience and location. If you cannot afford one, many states run legal aid programs, and some courts keep lists of attorneys who handle cases at reduced rates.
Mediation sits between going it alone and full litigation. A neutral third party helps both spouses negotiate their own agreement. The mediator does not decide anything; they facilitate the conversation and help generate proposals until both sides reach a deal. Private mediation typically costs $3,000 to $8,000 total, split between the spouses, which is a fraction of contested litigation. Collaborative divorce is another option, where each spouse hires a specially trained attorney and all parties agree in advance to resolve everything through negotiation; if negotiations break down and someone files a motion in court, both collaborative attorneys must withdraw and each spouse starts over with new counsel. Courts in many jurisdictions will order mediation before letting a contested case go to trial, so you may end up there anyway. Mediation is a poor fit when there is a significant power imbalance, domestic violence, or one spouse is actively hiding assets.