Divorcing in Ohio after AOS

[KaramelSacliKiz 0]

My husband arrived in the U.S. on a K-1 visa approximately one year ago. We married in May '09 and he received his green card in September '09. The marriage didn't work out and we mutually agreed to separate about two months ago. He has been living with a friend for the last two months. After several weeks of being separated he decided that he wanted to get back together and made desperate attempts to do so. I had the locks changed on the apartment, but he managed to break into the house. I reported this to the police, but did not file charges. The apartment lease is in my name only, as is everything else. Nothing is jointly in our names, except our marriage certificate!

Anyway, I am ready to file for divorce. Actually, I had hoped to do a dissolution of marriage, which would be much simpler as long as we both agreed to the terms of the divorce. I don't feel that I owe him anything as I have payed for literally everything and supported him for the past year. It now appears that he is not going to sign the separation and dissolution agreement. He keeps threatening me, "I have rights and I will get a lawyer". He says in a very condescending voice "I love you honey, I don't want a divorce." I know that he is just worried about his immigration status if we were to divorce.

My question is, if he will not agree to the separation agreement/dissolution, what do I do? I am assuming I will have to get a lawyer and file for divorce, yes? What is he entitled to? I am in Ohio, a no-fault state, and we have been married for less than 1 year. We have adjusted status and he is a permanent resident, but we do not have any co-mingling of assets. Also, apparently he has a warrant out for his arrest for not appearing in court for a traffic violation that he received. Not sure if that is important or not.

I just want to get this loser out of my life as simply and quickly as I can! I am young, with no children, and want to move on with my life. Your advice is much appreciated

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

"Dissolution of marriage" is just a legal term for divorce. What you are referring to is a divorce by mutual consent. In some states it's called a "summary dissolution". In others, it's simply an uncontested divorce. The advantage of this route is that it's usually faster, and no lawyers are required, so it's also usually a lot cheaper. In Ohio, this sort of divorce can be obtained by filing a petition for dissolution of marriage. However, both parties must agree to it. The only way to get a "no fault" divorce in Ohio is by mutual consent of the divorce. If he won't agree, then you must sue for divorce based on one of the following grounds:

# Living separate and apart for one year.

# Desertion for one year.

# Either party had a husband or wife living at the time of the marriage from which the divorce is sought.

# Adultery.

# Extreme cruelty.

# Fraudulent contract.

# Any gross neglect of duty.

# Habitual drunkenness.

# Imprisonment in a state or federal correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint.

# Procurement of a divorce outside this state, by a husband or wife, by virtue of which the party who procured it is released from the obligations of the marriage, while those obligations remain binding upon the other party.

If you manage to get him to agree to a dissolution, then you must also resolve the property settlement in the mutual separation agreement that you file with your petition. If you don't, then the property settlement will be resolved between your attorneys as part of the legal process of the divorce. Generally, he would have a claim only to property which was acquired after the marriage. However, he may also have a claim to a portion of any property which was partially acquired after the marriage (i.e., you didn't own it outright at the time of the marriage, and continued to make payments on it after the marriage). This might mean he has a partial claim to cars, real estate, or other property you made payments against out of the marital assets. Ohio courts take a lot of factors into account when determining distribution of marital assets, but anything you owned wholly before the marriage is generally exempt, and remains your own property.

Be aware that he may attempt to get an order for spousal support. The short duration of the marriage works in your favor here. The fact that he has no income works in his favor. It's also possible he could file a separate lawsuit against you for support based on the affidavit of support you signed.

If there's no chance you're going to persuade him to sign a joint petition for dissolution of marriage, then you should get a good divorce lawyer. From past experience, I can tell you that the best divorce lawyers are NOT the ones that seem like they are your best friend, no matter how knowledgeable they are. A good divorce lawyer is vicious, vindictive, tenacious, and absolutely hates to lose. Just think of the sort of attorney that you would hate to face as opposing council - that's the sort of attorney you want to hire.

[Darnell 8,478]

In addition to what Jim said -

you can have a restraining order filed on him, for 'no contact' , also restricting him to not be within a certain distance of yer domicile.

If he violates the terms of the restraining order, is still up to you to call the police and file charges.

I suggest you keep calling the police at every contact. They may not do something EACH time, but that builds a casefile on HIM.

Edited March 13, 2010 by Darnell