Eighteen questions every divorcing couple asks.

Typically two to four months of court processing after filing a complete packet, thanks to Directive #01-25, which lets courts decide uncontested divorces on the papers without a hearing. Before filing, the irreconcilable-differences ground requires the marital differences to have existed for at least six months.

$300 to file the complaint, plus $25 for parent education when minor children are involved. The responding spouse pays $175 to file an Answer or Appearance. Certified copies of the judgment cost a few dollars each. Fee waivers exist for genuine financial hardship.

Not necessarily. New Jersey allows self-represented divorce, and couples who agree on all terms can prepare and file their own packet. Many still buy one flat-fee attorney review of the finished settlement agreement — a few hundred dollars — which is the cheapest professional insurance in the process.

No. New Jersey ethics rules prohibit an attorney from representing both spouses in a divorce, even an amicable one. Each spouse who wants advice hires their own attorney.

An uncontested divorce on irreconcilable differences, filed with a complete and internally consistent packet through JEDS, decided on the papers. The single biggest speed factor is completeness — packets with blanks or contradictory dates get sent back by the clerk.

The ground almost every amicable couple uses is irreconcilable differences (N.J.S.A. 2A:34-2(i)) — no-fault, requiring only that the differences existed six months and there's no reasonable prospect of reconciliation. Fault grounds like adultery or desertion still exist but invite the conflict amicable couples are avoiding.

No. Under irreconcilable differences there is no separation requirement — spouses can live in the same house through the entire process and often do for financial reasons. The older 18-month-separation ground still exists but is rarely the better path.

The Judiciary Electronic Document Submission system at njcourts.gov — how self-represented people file court papers online in all 21 NJ counties, 24/7, paying fees by card. Paper filing at the county Family Division still works too.

Usually not. Under Directive #01-25, New Jersey courts can enter the Final Judgment of Divorce based on the papers alone when the packet is complete and both parties consent. A judge retains discretion to require a short hearing, but with a complete packet that is the exception.

The contract at the heart of an uncontested divorce: property, debts, alimony or its waiver, insurance, and any custody and support terms — signed by both spouses before a notary, then incorporated into (but not merged with) the Final Judgment of Divorce, which makes it enforceable as a court order.

Each spouse should have their own account and review and sign for themselves. A divorce requires two people's informed signatures; one spouse filling everything out under both names is exactly what courts and ethics rules are designed to prevent.

The clerk reviews and dockets the case (your number will start FM-), the responding spouse's paperwork gets filed, and the packet goes to a judge for review on the papers. The signed judgment comes back by mail — include self-addressed stamped envelopes with your filing.

Yes. Ask for the name restoration in the complaint and it becomes part of the judgment at no extra cost. Afterward, update Social Security first (Form SS-5 plus a certified copy of the judgment), then the MVC — in that order, because the MVC verifies against Social Security's records.

Then the divorce is no longer uncontested. You can still divorce — via proper service and, if they never respond, default — but a resistant spouse takes the case outside what self-serve preparation is designed for, and an attorney's help becomes worth the cost.

Court filings are generally public records, with a designed exception: the Confidential Litigant Information Sheet, which holds Social Security numbers, birth dates, and addresses, is kept out of the public file by the court.

New Jersey's rule for dividing marital property: equitably, which means fairly under the circumstances, not automatically 50/50. In an uncontested divorce the couple decides the division themselves in the settlement agreement, and the court incorporates it.

Practically, rarely. Amicable couples nearly always file on no-fault irreconcilable differences regardless of history, because fault grounds must be proven, invite conflict, and generally don't change equitable distribution or alimony outcomes.

When you disagree about children or money; when there's domestic violence, fear, or a restraining order; when finances are complex or hidden; or when your spouse has a lawyer and you don't. Those cases need attorneys — and a good self-serve product says so plainly.