Free NJ Divorce Paper Work

Getting a Divorce in New Jersey

Residency Requirement

One of the parties must have resided in the State for a minimum of 12 months before filing for divorce.

Grounds for Divorce

A divorce may be granted on either a no-fault or a fault basis. To get a no-fault divorce, it must be shown that the couple has lived separate and apart for a minimum of six months. The grounds for a fault-based divorce are as follows:

• Adultery
• Addiction to Alcohol or Drugs
• Desertion for a Minimum of 12 Months
• Cruel and Inhuman Treatment
• Cruelty (Extreme)
• Incarceration for a Minimum of 18 Months
• Unnatural Sexual Behavior (Before or After Marriage)
• Separation for a Minimum of Two Years Due to Hospitalization for Mental Illness
• Commitment for Incurable Insanity

Wife's Maiden Name

A New Jersey woman may choose to go back to using her maiden name after a divorce. A legal name change is often part of the divorce proceedings.

Where to Find Free NJ Divorce Paper Work

The following websites are sources for free NJ divorce paper work:

The Romanowski Law office provides free New Jersey divorce forms on its website. A number of sample forms are listed, including:

• Adultery Forms
• Extreme Cruelty Forms
• Fraudulent Concealment of Pregnancy Forms
• Drug Addiction Forms
• Habitual Drunkenness Forms

The forms offered here are available in PDF Format. They contain the Law Firm's name and/or a watermark and are to be used as guides only by individuals who are not employees of the Firm.

The wording for a New Jersey Complaint for Divorce form can be found on the Internet Legal Research Group's website. To receive a copy of the form by e-mail or fax in Microsoft Word, however, a fee must be paid.

Legalzoom.com will allow a person to fill out an online questionnaire at no cost. The types of questions asked will correspond to the types of information an attorney will need to collect in order to open a divorce file. After this information has been submitted, the individual may choose (for a fee) to have legal document experts prepare the necessary forms to start a divorce action. This document will be sent to the client in about one week, along with instructions for filing them with the Court.

You Get What You Pay For

Since divorce can involve some complicated financial and tax issues, is it really a good idea to consider the option of free NJ divorce paper work? Unless a person is quite confident in their own abilities to cover all of the bases and consider all the consequences of the issues that may come up, it may make more sense to pay for proper legal advice. While it may cost money to hire an attorney, consider those funds as money well spent - most of us don't have to think about these issues on a day-to-day basis, but a divorce attorney does. This is one situation where the better course of action is to call in an expert.