What is a Petition?

The Petition is the initial step in starting the legal dissolution process in the court system.

There is no specific requirement regarding when during the Mediation a Petition is filed, but it must be filed in order to ultimately obtain a Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage. The only time frame which may be a consideration is that there is a minimum of six months between the date the Petition is received by the Respondent and the date the parties can be restored to the status of single persons. This can have tax and other implications which may affect the timing of the filing of the Petition.

The Petition, in general terms, sets forth statistical details and requests regarding child custody, support, property, and attorney fees. When the Petition is filed, the parties will be assigned a case number and file within the court system.

A Petition must be served on the "Respondent", the person who did not file the Petition. The easiest method is for someone other than the Petitioner to mail the Petition and Summons, along with a form entitled "Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt", directly to the Respondent instead of personally handing the papers to the Respondent. If the Respondent acknowledges receipt of the Petition by signing and returning the Notice and Acknowledgment of Receipt, he/she has been effectively served. In the alternative, the parties can agree that the Summons and Petition will be handed to the Respondent during a four-, five-, six- or seven-way meeting.

Technically, a Response must be served and filed within thirty (30) days of the service date of the Petition. Like the Petition, the Response sets forth the Respondent's information regarding all issues. It is typical during the Mediation for an "open extension" to be granted. This means that the Respondent will not be required to serve and file the Response unless the Petitioner gives notice that a Response will be required.