This is a guest post and does not necessarily reflect the views of Jason Levoy or this site.

You have known it and your friends and family have known it for a long time now. Seemingly, everybody has seen it coming. You no longer are the couple you used to be. It is clear where your relationship will end. Soon you will be facing each other in a divorce lawyer’s office talking about how best and fast can you sign the papers.

Yes, divorce is a best option rather than living with someone you no longer have any respect for (read this). Constant fights and heated arguments are no longer healthy for both parties. Some couples would go through counseling and therapy, but the expense in availing such processes is just a waste when your relationship is really going down the drain. The thing is, you yourself know if it is still going to work or not, but sometimes it is the denial that prolongs both your agony. The time will come when you will just have to throw the towel in.

Get it sooner

It is not a way of telling couples not to work it out or for them to just give up when faced with challenges in their relationship. But it is just reminding people, especially young couples that you need not waste more of your life holding on to something that you know and feel is no longer going to work no matter how you would want it to.

Putting in more effort and money for life coaches, therapists, counselors will only add on to the losses you will incur. It is no longer worth it when you know it is no longer going anywhere.

Getting a divorce

A divorce will end your marriage. In actuality, even before the divorce proceedings begin, your marriage has already ended. Divorce can only be allowed when you have been married for at least a year. One can get a divorce without having to get a solicitor when both partners will agree to the divorce and the reasons why the divorce is sought. But if you both have to sort out property, money, and children issues, it would take much longer.

Also, when only one party is in favor of the divorce or if one party will not agree to the reasons, the process will take much longer and more expensive.

The process

The process of getting a divorce starts with writing the petition. The petition is written by the spouse who initiated the divorce or the petitioner, and it is served to the other spouse or the respondent. This petition is filed in court in any state where either of the spouses lives. It contains the important details pertaining to the marriage, names of the wife and husband, children, properties, custody of the children, etc.

Serving the petition – if both husband and wife agree to the divorce and the reasons of which, the spouse whom the petition is served only needs to sign in acknowledgment of receipt. But if the respondent does not agree or is not found or there is a difficulty in locating the respondent, a processional server can be hired to deliver the papers in person.

When the petition is served, the waiting time, depending on the state laws begins and a restraining order ensues.

Response to the petition – this is not normally required, but the respondent spouse can file a response indicating an agreement to the filed divorce petition, within 30 days. When the respondent spouse files a positive response, the case will proceed without any court hearing. Otherwise, a court hearing will be necessary and which would delay the process and cost more money. If no response is filed within 30 days, the petitioner can request the court for a default response and the respondent spouse can use this to disagree with the petition details. Learn more from sites like legaldictionary.net

Final steps – this is when the spouses are asked to disclose information about their income, expenses, assets, and liabilities. If nobody would contest the divorce the petitioner and the respondent can lay the terms of their divorce and process the papers. When the court passes judgment, the divorce is made final but either of the spouses cannot remarry until the waiting time is over. In case there are issues that may arise or the terms are being contested, a court hearing or a trial will be necessary.

Divorce can be inexpensive

If you really want to end your marriage, you can do so by filing a divorce, but this process is not as simple as most couples would think. Some find the process stressful, traumatic, painful, life-changing, and all the time expensive. We know that weddings are most of the time expensive, divorce is more expensive. However, if the marriage is not working and it is just draining the life out of you, getting a divorce, no matter how expensive, is the best way to get out of it and help rehabilitate yourself. But is it possible to lessen the cost of processing a divorce?

Some couples would agree to be civil to each other and work together to make the divorce process easier and shorter. If you are willing to do this and set aside each other’s differences, it will give you a much easier, faster, and cheaper divorce. If there are assets and children, divorcing couples can agree to settle the assets and custody of children themselves so they would not need professional help to handle these. This process makes the cost of divorce cheaper because you will do away with the professional fees in handling part of the divorce, and couples do not have to step into court when they take on an uncontested divorce (click for more information). If you so decide that your marriage will no longer work for both of you, do not prolong your agony and get a divorce sooner. If you

prolong the agony it can become even more costly, not just in terms of money but mentally, emotionally, and psychologically as well.  Apparently, almost everything can be found on the internet nowadays so you can do research on how to process the documents for your own divorce as certain websites provide tips on how.