How Long Does it Take for a Divorce to be Finalized in Boise, Idaho?

An Idaho divorce lawyer can help you ensure that your rights are protected and that decisions are made with your future consideration. They will ensure that everything is filled out correctly and you have all the evidence you need so that your divorce can run more smoothly.

An experienced divorce attorney should also be a skilled mediator, which means that they can help you and your spouse reach agreements that best serve your family. In minimizing court involvement, they will help protect important relationships and save time and money on court proceedings.

If you appoint a divorce attorney from our Idaho Divorce Law Firm, you can expect:

• Strong advice and support on dealing with divorce.
• A trained mediator.
• Legal insights into nuptial agreements during a divorce.
• A strong attorney-client relationship where every decision is taken in your best interest.
• Personal and emotional support for your well-being.

At our firm, clients are treated as individuals, and each individual case is handled with sensitivity and care during this time. Our attorneys will work tirelessly on your behalf to make sure the best outcome happens.

With our attorneys, the client is part of the team. Both sides will be on the road together, working to ensure that the course of the divorce process is taken with comfort and care every step of the way.

Contested Divorce

Uncontested Divorce

Each state operates on its own grounds for divorce, but Idaho is a no-fault divorce state. This means that couples filing a divorce complaint can tell the Idaho court that they have reached a point in their marriage whereby they cite irreconcilable differences. This establishes no-fault grounds, which can make the legal processes quicker, as neither spouse has to prove that the other is at fault.

There are sometimes situations where an at-fault divorce may be the most appropriate option. However, the spouse filing for a fault-based divorce will need to prove that the other spouse’s behavior caused the end of the divorce. Although it can be more time-consuming to file for a fault-based divorce, it does ensure that your experiences are acknowledged by the Judge, and this could impact certain decisions, such as those involving child custody.

It is also important to remember that you must meet the state’s residency requirement before you can file for a divorce in court. To get a divorce in Idaho, the filing spouse must have been a resident of the state for six weeks immediately before filing and taking it through the court system.

Some justifications for an at-fault divorce include:

• Adultery – where one spouse is unfaithful to the other.
• Extreme cruelty – a type of fault divorce where a spouse claims the other spouse committed some form of physical or mental cruelty against them.
• Willful Desertion – this refers to abandonment within the marriage, that in the months or weeks prior to the divorce proceedings, one spouse was abandoned with their children without their consent and with the intention of abandoning all legal obligations in respect of them for at least 1 year.
• Willful Neglect – this refers to when one spouse fails to provide for their family and minor children. They fail to provide common necessities when they have the ability to do so and overall spousal maintenance of shared responsibilities.
• Habitual Intemperance – this refers to when there is wilful neglect of responsibilities from a spouse due to being intoxicated, either on drugs or alcohol for a period of time, causing mental anguish for the other spouse.
• Conviction of a felony-level crime – Spouses, can file for divorce in Idaho if one spouse has a felony conviction. The person filing for divorce must take into account that a criminal conviction does not speed up the divorce decree.
• Permanent insanity – If your spouse has been omitted into a mental institution, the filing spouse is eligible for spousal support from the state.

It is important to remember that you can only allege grounds that you can prove for divorce in Idaho. If you fail to convince the court that your spouse’s behavior or misconduct was the reason for the divorce, this could risk a Judge dismissing your case in the Idaho courts entirely due to a lack of evidence. It is a good idea to get advice from an attorney first who can review your case.

In a “divorce by default” in Boise, Idaho, the spouse filing the divorce, otherwise known as the petitioner, files and serves the divorce papers, but the respondent (the other spouse) doesn’t file a response within a 20 day period for responding.

In other words, this means that the respondent “defaults” the right to be heard by not responding in the required time frame. Once this time frame has passed without a response, the petitioner can gather the appropriate divorce documents to finalize the divorce.

Dividing marital property can be a difficult subject to navigate. The state of Idaho operates as a community property state. This means that assets will be categorized according to when they were acquired. Assets that were obtained during the course of your marriage will be deemed as “community property”, meaning that they will be divided equally between the spouses. Assets obtained after the separation or before the marriage will be considered as separate.

Although community property is considered to belong to each spouse equally, there are situations where the Court may determine that a 50/50 split is not fair. For example, if one spouse takes full custody of the children, then they could be entitled to the marital home.

If you are going through a divorce, it will be made harder when children are involved. In these cases, alimony and child support can be ordered by Idaho courts. Factors like the financial resources of the spouse who is seeking spousal support, the earnings of both spouses, and the length of the marriage all come into play when considering alimony.

If the couple has children, child support is ordered based on each parent’s income. There is a state minimum of $50 per month. In Idaho, the amount of child support isn’t based solely on the paying parent’s income. Instead, the state uses a system that looks at the combined income of the parents.

Splitting up assets, determining alimony, and figuring out child support isn’t something that is easy for most people. Anyone who is going through a divorce should seek the help of someone familiar with Idaho divorce so they can prepare for the divorce process in a proper manner.

If you and your spouse are divorcing and have minor children, the process is often challenging. Child custody laws in Idaho are similar to many other states in the US, and the best interest of the children is always the primary focus of the court.

“Physical custody” is where the children will primarily live, and this is determined by the courts. If the divorcing spouses cannot agree on a custody decision, the following factors will be considered by the courts following state child support guidelines:

• What each parent’s wishes are for child custody and the proposed parenting plans given to the court clerk.
• If one spouse following the divorce has plans to relocate.
• The mental and physical health of each parent.
• Examining if there is a history of abuse within the family, either between the parents or towards the children.
• The ages of the children, if they are older, and what their wishes are.
• How the children will adjust to changes of home/community/schooling.
• The relationships between the parents, children, and siblings, factoring in extended family relations, also.
• Which parent’s proposed plan will contribute the most stability to the children’s lives.

When it comes to divorce, it is best to work with a dedicated attorney. Like any lawyer, your dedicated attorney will be able to understand your individual requirements and concerns when dealing with the divorce case on your behalf.

The team here at Idaho Divorce Law Firm understands divorce better than anyone else. Our team boasts decades of experience in dealing with the Idaho legal system, and can proudly represent our clients.

As it is a difficult time, it is crucial that divorce lawyers approach each case with care, offering personal touches. Often, divorce cases involve children, which can lead to child custody arrangements and the breaking of a home. These factors make divorce cases even more emotional.

For this reason, your divorce case requires an attorney that understands the sensitivity of the case, but can also advise and guide you.