| Jurisdiction and Venue in Annulment Proceedings |
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| The parties must establish proper jurisdiction and venue in order to initiate an annulment action. Usually, to obtain the jurisdiction and proper venue, the courts of the state where the parties were married have jurisdiction in an annulment action. In most states, if one of the parties wants to bring an action in a state court, that party must show that one of the parties has been residing in that particular state for the required period. Alternatively, a state has jurisdiction if either party has met that state's residency requirement. Venue is established if the party seeking the annulment of the marriage has met the domicile requirements within the court's jurisdiction. More... |
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| Temporary Exclusive Possession of the Marital Residence in Divorce |
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| One of the measures that may be put into place during a divorce proceeding is an order awarding temporary exclusive possession of the parties' marital residence to one of the spouses. Such an order is typically viewed as a harsh remedy and is only to be used when there is evidence of serious misconduct or abuse. More... |
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| Property Division in Divorce: Partition |
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| For purposes of divorce, "partition" is a legal process that divides property, usually real property, into fractional shares for the spouses. Divorce or legal separation establishes grounds for partition in a divorce for jointly-owned marital assets of the spouses. More... |
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| Property Division in Divorce: Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements |
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| Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements refer to agreements made between the spouses before and after marriage, respectively. Among other things, these contracts enable the spouses to define their respective property rights, which can be very helpful in cases of divorce or legal separation. More... |
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| Defenses in Fault-based Divorce: Recrimination |
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| Recrimination is a traditional equitable defense to fault-based divorce actions and is based on the principle that a person seeking justice must come to court with clean hands. It seeks to avoid divorce on the ground that the petitioner has engaged in conduct that would entitle the respondent spouse to a divorce. For example, if a wife files for divorce on the ground of her husband's cruelty and if she herself is guilty of committing cruelty against her husband, then the recrimination defense would act to prevent dissolution on the ground of the husband's cruelty. More... |
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