Hello and welcome to our show, 60 seconds with Sergio. I am your host Sergio Cabanas, attorney-at-law here in South Florida. Thank you for joining me.

Today’s question is, Sergio what exactly is a contested divorce? Well that’s a good question and one you should know if you’re planning on moving forward with a divorce anytime in the near future.

A contested divorce basically means that the parties have not yet been able to reach an agreement. Maybe it’s because you all haven’t had a chance to sit down and really understand and negotiate all the terms and conditions relating to to settling a divorce, or maybe one of the parties is simply refusing or not cooperating and an agreement has not been able to be reached. It’s important to find an attorney who can help you analyze the situation and identify all the legal issues that need to be resolved in order to avoid a contested divorce to the extent possible or at least narrow down the issues that need to be resolved so that you can keep your costs to a minimum in addition to reducing your stress. So, what are the issues that people have to resolve for the most part when it comes to a divorce. Well, one of the biggest issues is identifying the marital assets and dividing, or separating these assets and distributing them amongst the spouses. Another important issue may relate to alimony. If there are minor children, we also have to resolve those issues such as custody or time sharing and child support and so forth. So, once these issues are resolved then you can move forward to get a divorce in the quickest fastest and less expensive way possible. So funny way of answering that important question is through this meme that I found, which is literally a washer cut in half pursuant of divorce with one spouse presumably taking the other half. So, this is exactly the situation we want to avoid in your divorce. Again, it’s important to find an attorney who is amenable and open to settling your case as soon as possible to keep your stress level down, and to keep your expenses down.

Thank you again for joining me today. Please keep in mind that this short video is only intended to provide you with some general guidance over an important legal question. This is not a substitute for an actual consultation with an attorney who can sit down and review the specifics of your case. Thank you again for joining me and as always, stay informed so you can stay strong.

Thank you.