Guides

The New Jersey process, explained plainly.

Legal information with its sources named — never advice about your case. When a question needs judgment, it needs a New Jersey attorney, and we say so.

How long does an uncontested divorce take in New Jersey?

The honest 2026 timeline: what the six-month grounds period, the 35-day answer window, and court processing actually add up to.

August 1, 2026 · 6 min read

The $300 question: every fee in a New Jersey uncontested divorce

Filing fees, the parent education fee, responsive pleading fees, certified copies — the complete 2026 cost list, including the fee waiver nobody mentions.

August 1, 2026 · 5 min read

JEDS: how to file your New Jersey divorce online

The Judiciary Electronic Document Submission system, step by step — accounts, file formats, payment, and what happens after you press submit.

August 1, 2026 · 5 min read

Irreconcilable differences: what New Jersey's six-month rule actually means

The no-fault ground almost every amicable divorce uses, what the statute really requires, and the mistakes that get complaints bounced.

August 1, 2026 · 5 min read

Changing your name in an NJ divorce: do Social Security before the MVC

The judgment can restore your prior name for free — and there's one ordering mistake that costs people an extra trip to a motor vehicle agency.

August 1, 2026 · 4 min read

The 12 documents in a New Jersey uncontested divorce, in filing order

What each document in the packet actually does — complaint to judgment — and which official state forms hide inside it.

August 1, 2026 · 7 min read

You probably never have to appear in court — New Jersey's divorce on the papers

Directive #01-25 lets a New Jersey judge enter your Final Judgment of Divorce without either of you ever setting foot in a courtroom. What it requires, and what still gets you a hearing.

August 8, 2026 · 6 min read

Can't afford the $300 filing fee? New Jersey has a waiver.

New Jersey courts can waive divorce filing fees for people who genuinely cannot pay. Who qualifies, how to ask, and where to get free help with the application.

August 8, 2026 · 4 min read

Your spouse filed for divorce in New Jersey. Here is your 35 days.

You were served with a Complaint for Divorce. What the 35-day deadline actually means, the three ways to respond, what happens if you do nothing, and how to keep an amicable case amicable.

August 8, 2026 · 6 min read

The parenting class New Jersey requires before your divorce is final

Divorcing parents of minor children in New Jersey attend a mandatory Parents' Education Program. What it is, the $25 fee, how long it adds to your timeline, and what it is not.

August 8, 2026 · 4 min read

There is no alimony calculator in New Jersey

Child support has a formula. Alimony does not. What N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23(b) actually asks a judge to weigh, the four kinds of alimony, and the 20-year line that governs how long it lasts.

September 9, 2026 · 7 min read

Equitable distribution in New Jersey does not mean half

New Jersey is not a community property state. What counts as marital property, what stays exempt, and the sixteen factors under N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23.1 that decide how it splits.

September 9, 2026 · 7 min read

Divorce mediation in New Jersey, and when it beats doing it yourselves

Mediation is how couples reach agreement; an uncontested filing is what happens once they have. How New Jersey's court mediation programs work, what a mediator can and cannot do, and who should use one.

September 9, 2026 · 7 min read

How to serve divorce papers in New Jersey

Service is the step that turns a filed complaint into a case your spouse must answer. The four ways New Jersey allows, the 60-day rule, what the Acknowledgment of Service does, and what happens when a spouse won't cooperate.

September 14, 2026 · 7 min read

New Jersey has no legal separation. Here is what it has instead.

People search for 'legal separation in NJ' every day and there is no such filing. What New Jersey actually offers — living apart, a separation agreement, and the unusual 'divorce from bed and board' — and when each makes sense.

September 14, 2026 · 6 min read

Annulment vs divorce in New Jersey: which one you actually qualify for

An annulment says the marriage never validly existed; a divorce ends one that did. New Jersey's grounds for annulment are narrow and specific. Who qualifies, why almost nobody does, and why a short marriage is not a reason.

September 14, 2026 · 5 min read

The New Jersey residency requirement for divorce, explained

One spouse must have lived in New Jersey for a year before filing — except on one ground. What counts as residence, what happens if you moved recently, and what to do if you are just short of twelve months.

September 14, 2026 · 4 min read

Divorce in New Jersey when you can't find your spouse

You cannot serve someone whose address you do not know — but you can still get divorced. What a 'diligent inquiry' means, service by publication, why the judgment may be limited, and why this is a lawyer's case.

September 14, 2026 · 5 min read

Divorcing a spouse who is in prison in New Jersey

An incarcerated spouse can be served, can sign, and can agree — the process is mostly the same with some practical differences. Service inside a facility, signatures and notaries, the uncontested option, and the separate fault ground.

September 14, 2026 · 5 min read

The New Jersey uncontested divorce checklist

Everything you need before, during and after filing an uncontested divorce in New Jersey, as one list: the gates, the documents, the fees, the filing day, the waiting, and the after.

September 14, 2026 · 6 min read

The first 90 days after your New Jersey divorce

The judgment is signed. Now the part nobody helps with: certified copies, the name-change order of operations, beneficiaries that still name your ex, the will, the deed, the taxes — in the order that saves the most trouble.

September 14, 2026 · 6 min read