In a contested divorce, the parties dispute many issues, usually parenting time and division of marital property. In an uncontested divorce, the parties are able to settle all of their issues amicably.

When the matter is contested, the intervention of the court is necessary to decide the division of property and parenting time. A hearing on a contested divorce is called a Final or Permanent Orders Hearing. At this hearing, the parties are able to present witnesses, documents and evidence to support their position. These matters are decided by a Judge as Juries are not permitted at final hearings in divorce. The Judge's ruling is decided based on the evidence submitted and his determination as to credibility of the parties. Generally, since most divorce proceedings are primarily based on "he said, she said," Judge's base their ruling on which party they believed when presenting their testimony, as well as the evidence submitted by the parties. The final decision of the Court may be reviewed by an appellate court, but only under the abuse of discretion standard. In other words, the appellate court will only overturn the decision if the Court's ruling was abusive and contrary to the law. It is for these reasons we encourage clients to amicably resolve their issues, since going to a Final Order hearings takes it out of their hands and places it squarely into the hands of the court.

In an uncontested divorce, the parties have to be able to give and take. The only way to amicably settle their claims is by being able to give up some things in exchange for others. If the parties are able to resolve all of these issues, they can file a Separation Agreement with the Court whereby they list all of the settled issues in one document that will be approved by the Court. This Agreement is treated by the Court as a binding contract, which is enforceable by either party if the other violates. In order for the Court to approve the Agreement and make it binding, the Court must make certain neither party has an unfair advantage or unfairly benefit from the Agreement. Both parties will sign this Agreement, evidencing to the Court their amicable consent.