Learn How to File for an Oregon Divorce and Prepare for a Court Hearing

What you first need to find when filing for an Oregon divorce, as elsewhere in the United States, is a lawyer. Whether or not you and your spouse are both agreed on getting the divorce, there are several other related issues that need to be settled, and this is why getting legal help always makes sense.

Such issues include sharing your joint assets, arranging for child support and custody, alimony, debts and others like this. Remember, you are about to go through what could be a complex and legal process, and you would be well advised to get a legal professional to carry the ball for you instead of trying to do it yourselves.

Right at the start, you need to ascertain in which court and jurisdiction you should file the divorce petition – your county or district's circuit court, superior court or family court. You can call your local court clerk's office and inquire.

You need to have all your personal and business paperwork ready before you file divorce papers. These might be the deed or mortgage contract on a house, records of joint debt, checking account records, retirement plan paperwork, and even the household expense sheet.

You should also make up your mind how you want to split possessions. When filing divorce papers, unless a specific property item is listed in the divorce decree, you may lose out legally if there is any later dispute over them.

At this time, you should also decide your stand on child custody, child support, alimony, and other such issues. Once you have done these things, it is time to file divorce papers.

As for the substance of your petition, it will depend on the degree of agreement between you and your spouse. If you are both agreed on a peaceful and dignified divorce, you will file for a no-fault divorce (based on "irreconcilable differences").

If your spouse is likely to contest the divorce, you will have to bring charges making him or her responsible for failure of the marriage relationship.

If you are filing for a 'no-fault' divorce, you can together decide which of you is going to file the initial petition. It doesn’t matter which of you files, but one of you must.

If there is a dispute, you should now file papers for temporary custody and support of children. They should never suffer in the process of their parent's legal quarrels.

You need also to keep a record of evidence that your spouse has been served with a copy of the divorce petition and related papers. Papers can be served at the office of his or her appointed lawyer or, with all possible dignity and decency at home – not publicly, like the office or the street.

Residency Regulations in the State of Oregon

Residency requirements for an Oregon divorce require that if the marriage took place in the state, either of you must be a resident or domiciled in the state. It is necessary for at least one of you to be continuously present in the state for 6 months before the application for divorce is filed.

Your filed Petition for Dissolution of Marriage must be based on grounds recognized as valid in the State of Oregon. If the two of you are agreed that there is no point in taking the marriage forward and there is no future in this, you may mutually decide to end the association in a civilized manner. In such a case, you can simply file for a ‘no-fault’ divorce. This means that both of you are agreeing that irreconcilable differences have caused the breakdown of the marriage.

In cases where you or your spouse brings complaints on the other and decides to contest such claims made, the divorce filed is known as ‘at-fault'. The grounds for such a divorce can be many such as adultery, crime, cruelty, insanity, impotency and others.

Court proceedings commence only 90 days after the summons and petition are served, and opposing parties have exchanged documents, challenges, admissions and taken sworn of depositions. The court may issue temporary orders until the final judgment, and order mediation to reconcile the parties. The court, besides granting a divorce, will decide on many related issues such as restoration of premarital names, child custody and support, visitation rights, alimony and property division.

Being an "equitable distribution" state, Oregon divides marital property for fairness, not equal shares. It does not hold anyone responsible for breaking down the marriage, but actually tries to assess the value to the homemaker's role as contributing to property acquisition, whether joint or separately held.

The court intervenes only if the parties fail to reach a settlement on property and debt issues. Similar principles apply to spousal and child support, which are settled on a case-by-case basis.