Oregon Divorce Laws and How to File (2023 Guide) – Forbes Consultant

Oregon divorces are either contested or uncontested. The difference, you know, is that when there are issues that you and your spouse can’t agree on, you’ll have a contested divorce.

If you can agree on all the issues between the two of you, you can get a divorce uncontested. These are generally faster and less expensive.

And the most fast and cheap is the special short form summary solution. This allows you to obtain a divorce without having to go to court. In order to get a short form summary solution, you must fulfill all the requirements:

• One or both spouses must have lived in Oregon for the past six months
• The duration of the marriage must be less than 10 years
• The spouses should not have minor children
• The couple must not have children between the ages of 18 and 21 in school
• Neither spouse can be pregnant
• Neither spouse may own any real estate in the country
• The couple must have personal property worth less than $30,000
• The couple must have no more than $15,000 in debt incurred during the marriage
• The applicant spouse must waive the right to support
• The applicant spouse must waive the right to request temporary orders
• Neither spouse can have a pending divorce, separation, or annulment in any state (including Oregon)

In order to file for divorce in Oregon, you must meet residency requirements and submit the application to the appropriate court.

Residency requirements for divorce in Oregon

Before you can file for divorce in Oregon, you must have resided in the state for at least six months if you were not married. If you were married in Oregon and you or your spouse still live in the state, you already meet the residency requirements to file for divorce.

Grounds for divorce in Oregon

Oregon is a no-fault state. This means that you can file for divorce without blaming the other spouse, and you can obtain a divorce without the consent of the other spouse. Your Oregon divorce will be granted when “irreconcilable differences between the parties have caused the marriage to collapse beyond repair.”

If you meet the residency requirements, you must file your petition with the circuit court in the county where you or your spouse live (depending on how you meet the residency requirements, that could be in your home county or your spouse’s county). Once you file for divorce, you must notify your spouse.

They are usually serviced by the sheriff of the county where your spouse lives. However, any Oregon resident over the age of 18 can file the papers, as long as whoever is doing the service submits a certificate of service to the court.

Alternatively, they can sign a Service Acceptance Form, which waives your commitment to their service.

Your husband has 30 days to respond, and the course of the divorce process will be determined by how he responds.

• If they respond and do not object to anything in the divorce, your divorce may be granted without a hearing
• If they respond to and object to any part of the application for divorce, a hearing will be scheduled to determine how to proceed.
• If they do not respond, you may be granted a default divorce and have to file a separate application for a default judgment.

Oregon is what is called the Equitable Distribution State. This means that all property – regardless of its title – acquired during the marriage will be considered jointly owned and will be divided equitably between the parties. However, “equitable” does not mean “equal,” and courts will look at contributions and roles in a marriage to determine what is fair.

Oregon does not exclude property acquired before marriage, which is very rare. In most states, only property acquired during marriage is divided. This may mean that one of the spouses who has a lot of property going into the marriage can lose property owned long before the marriage itself takes place.

What you might think of as “support” is referred to as spousal support under Oregon law. There are three types of spousal support in Oregon

Transitional spousal support

This is the most common type of spousal support. It is usually given for a specific period of time with the aim of providing the low-income spouse with the support needed to increase their earning power. Sometimes, with longer marriages, the support will gradually decrease over a longer period of time.

Compensatory spousal support

This type of support aims at reimbursing one of the spouses for contributions made to the other’s earning capacity. If one spouse works full time to support the other in obtaining an advanced degree, for example, compensatory spousal support may be appropriate.

Spousal alimony

This is the form of support Oregon maintains in cases where the marriage is of longer duration and one of the spouses does not have the ability to reasonably support themselves. The court will only award spousal support if it is unreasonable for the low-income spouse to be able to support themselves – for example if that spouse is close to retirement age or has certain health conditions that limit their earning potential.

Oregon courts determine child custody by considering what is in the best interest of the child. If the parents cannot agree on custody, the court will usually order them to resort to mediation. If the parents do not agree, the court determines custody by considering a variety of factors including the emotional bonds between the child and family members, parental abuse of the other, and each parent’s willingness and ability to support the child’s relationship with the other. parents. Oregon law requires both parents to contribute to their child’s support. The guidelines used take into account the income of both parents as well as the number of children and minimum childcare costs. The state maintains a site where Child support guidelines It has been explained and a number of calculators and tables are available.