Can I file for divorce without a separation agreement

[Googlelawstudent]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been separated and living apart from my ex spouse for almost 10 years. We have one child, and did not have any assets together. We did not draft a separation agreement when we broke up, she just got up and moved out one day. I have asked her multiple times to sit down together and draft one to file, but she keeps saying she’ll get back to me later to confirm, it’s bad timing, etc. In spite of this, we are in a good enough place. We coparent kindly and there is next to no conflict. We share custody of our child and I pay her a child support amount that we both agreed to.

I want to get divorced. Theoretically, assuming she doesn’t contest it after being served, can I just file for a simple divorce without a separation agreement?

TIA

 

[Kinso]

If your child is not yet 18 the Judge might reject it unless they're confident adequate provisions have been made.

 

[OrleansLawyer]

The straightforward answer is yes.

You will need to explain the amount of child support being paid in your Affidavit for Divorce (Form 36). If it is different than the Guideline amount, you need to do a short write up to explain why. If the judge is not satisfied, they can refuse to grant the divorce. That being said, if you are even remotely close to the Guideline amount and put in something relatively straightforward like: "we can both support the kid with us during our time, we both make a good income and don't need to exchange a couple hundred bucks more or less than our current arrangement", the judge is likely to grant the divorce.