You may be completely blindsided if your spouse goes on trial for allegedly committing a criminal offense. Subsequently, you may be devastated if your spouse is ultimately found guilty and sent to jail for a significantly long sentence. Understandably, this may not be the marriage you envisioned when you and your spouse first exchanged vows. So this may have you seriously considering the option of divorce. Continue reading to learn whether you can file for divorce from your spouse who is in jail and how an experienced Bergen County divorce attorney at McNerney & McAuliffe can guide you through this process.
Can I file for divorce from my spouse who is in jail?
In the state of New Jersey, you are allowed to file for a no-fault-based divorce or a fault-based divorce. On the one hand, a no-fault-based divorce is one in which one or both spouses cannot necessarily pinpoint an issue or situation that led to the breakdown of their marriage. Rather, both spouses may claim that they have irreconcilable differences or they have been separated for at least 18 months before filing for divorce.
On the other hand, a fault-based divorce is one in which one or both spouses have proven to committed an act of wrongdoing that ultimately led to the end of their marriage. The most common examples of fault-based grounds are adultery, institutionalization, and most notably, incarceration for an extended period. This is all to say that, yes, you may file for divorce from your spouse who has been sent to jail for a significantly long sentence. Specifically, their sentence must be for 18 months or longer.
What does the process of divorcing my spouse in jail entail?
The divorce process may get slightly more complicated if your spouse is currently incarcerated. This is because you may need to hire the sheriff’s office to serve your incarcerated spouse with your divorce papers on your behalf. Then, you may need to obtain permission from the New Jersey family court for your incarcerated spouse to appear in your divorce proceedings.
Without further ado, the somewhat unique process for divorcing your incarcerated spouse may go as follows:
- You may have to obtain specific incarcerated spouse divorce forms from the New Jersey family court, rather than the standard ones.
- You may need to request a copy of your incarcerated spouse’s mittimus from the New Jersey criminal court, which is the warrant issued to a sheriff commanding your spouse’s delivery to jail.
- You may need to submit your divorce filing alongside the mittimus and the filing fee, along with serving your incarcerated spouse in the unique way mentioned above.
- You may need to attend your scheduled court hearing, along with requesting permission for your incarcerated spouse to attend in the unique way mentioned above.
- You may need to secure the divorce decree from the court to make the dissolution of your marriage officially finalized.
We understand just how delicate this situation may be for you. If you need an emotional support system that doubles as a legal support system, look no further than McNerney & McAuliffe. Retain the services of a skilled Bergen County family law attorney today.
