When divorce papers have served you, perhaps the first thing that you think of is the lawyer that you should hire to help you through it. Doing nothing with the divorce papers when you’ve been served it is the worst thing that you could do to yourself. If you do, you run the risk of letting your spouse get everything he or she asked for in the complaint they filed with the divorce. You may quickly lose custody or the fair division of the conjugal property. Divorce counterclaim is your opportunity to answer the divorce papers and plan for your protection.
How do you respond to a divorce claim?
There are several options on how you can deal with the divorce. The first one is perhaps the safest. You simply have to apply for an appearance in court, which means you are neither accepting the demands of your spouse or agreeing to it. The appearance is your way of being involved in the decision making, opening the doors for discussion.
The another option is about taking a point in the divorce. It is submitting your counterclaim to the divorce papers handed on to you. Most would consult with their divorce lawyer about the grounds they may take on to contest what their spouse has claimed. Moreover, talking with your legal advisor will ensure that you can cover more ground concerning child custody, child support, and even spousal support. The counterclaim is like serving your complaint of the divorce.
How do you establish grounds?
Since filing the counterclaim is like presenting your side of complaint about the divorce, it should tell the court what you want out of the divorce. You may choose to use the grounds that your spouse has pointed out in the divorce he filed or you may opt for another approach. Talking with your divorce lawyer will help you find the right grounds for your divorce and come out of it victorious. If you and your spouse decide to file for a no-grounds divorce, the court may take this as an agreement of both parties that ending the marriage is the best option there is.
What are the advantages that come with filing a counterclaim?
One of the best things that come with a counterclaim aside from the fact that you can state what you want, it keeps litigation lines open. It enables couples to sit down and talk about the many possibilities they could take; thus, it is possible for the other spouse to change his or her mind about the divorce. A counterclaim is a lawsuit as it is. Whether or not you should go on with the divorce or not is all up to you. Consulting your lawyer will give you the legal perspective of how else you can benefit from the choices you make.