To be clear, filing for divorce first does not necessarily give you an advantage when it comes to the merits of your case. Everyone is entitled to due process and the right to be heard. Even if you file for divorce first, your spouse would still have a full legal right to defend themselves and present their own side of the story. However, there are certain tactical advantages that you may be able to achieve when you are the first to file. You should contact an experienced divorce lawyer, both to allow you to prepare and so you don’t get taken by surprise. Here are some of the advantages of being the first to file for divorce.
You Can Control the Timing of the Case
The court would set a timeline based on the initial filing in the case. If you are the one who makes that initial filing, you would have more control over the timing. The other party would be in a position where they need to respond within a certain amount of time. By the time they would begin working on their own case, you would have already filed for divorce, and you would be preparing to respond to whatever they file.
You May Be Able to Choose the Venue
There is a potential that the divorce case could be heard in one or more venues, depending on where you were located at the time of the divorce. When you file first, you may be able to influence the venue of the case. Once you have filed in a venue, your spouse would be in the position where they would first need to seek a change in location that a judge would need to grant.
The Judge May Read Your Filings First
When a judge reviews the filings in your case, they would likely read them in the order that they are received. Since you are the one who is acting in the capacity of the plaintiff, they would read your filings and versions of events first. Although they would certainly read what your spouse has to say, you are the one who is getting in the first word.
You Have Time to Work With Your Divorce Lawyer
When you are the one who files first, it would likely be after doing extensive work with your divorce attorney to prepare the case. Contrast that with the scenario in which your spouse is the one who files first. You are working on a court-imposed timeline, and you may not have as much time to collaborate with a divorce lawyer on your filings. You could gain an advantage in a contested legal process by having more time to work on your case.
You Can Seek Any Emergency Relief
You may need to take aggressive legal action when it comes to limiting your spouse’s ability to do things such as take unilateral custody actions or dissipate marital assets. As the petitioner who moves first, you have the ability and right to request emergency injunctions from the court. Your spouse cannot seek any emergency relief until they have filed their own response to your petition.
At the very minimum, you should consult with an experienced divorce lawyer who can review the facts and circumstances of your case and advise you whether and when you should be the first one to file for divorce. They can assist you with a strategy based on your specific situation. There is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all divorce strategy that can be used in every case. If you need to act aggressively in your case, your divorce lawyer can help.
Contact an Edison Divorce Lawyer at Thakkar Family Law
An Edison divorce lawyer at Thakkar Family Law can assist you in all matters relating to your divorce. You can speak to attorney Megha R. Thakkar during a free initial consultation by messaging through the website or by calling us today at (732) 456-7456. Our office is in Piscataway, New Jersey.