Interviewer: What do you do if you have someone who’s just real angry and they want to put the hurt on their spouse or make them pay and all that? Do you dissuade them or do you just not take those kind of people?
Michael Anderson: Usually I try and get them into a reality check. We kind of just go through, ‘Hey what’s the point? What are you really trying to do here?’ And if it is truly just to be vindictive, we usually try and get them off of that track. Part of being an attorney is, also the other half is to be a counselor and to advise people on what they should and shouldn’t do, and quite frankly it’s never good to be vindictive. If all you want to do is screw your spouse, you know, give him the bolts it’s not going to give them a reward in the end, it’s not going to be a good pay-off. It’s horrible if they have kids because the kids usually become the weapons that they use to hurt their ex-spouse. We usually tell them to not do that, and if they continue down that route, we usually don’t represent them.
The Top Reasons That Cause An Individual To Consider Divorce
Interviewer: What are the top reasons that people tell you why they’ve come to this divorce decision? Infidelity or other things?
Michael Anderson: Infidelity usually plays a role but not always. Usually it comes down to – they just can’t function in a thriving environment. They’re not getting along, the stresses – whatever they are; whether they’re economic stresses, whether they’re infidelity stresses, or addiction stresses, or maybe it’s even the kids, sometimes its in-laws – whatever the stress is, they can’t resolve it and they need to be in a healthier place. A place where they can thrive, grow, and not feel like they’re shut in or in a position where they can’t be happy. Really it comes down to happiness; they know they’ll be happier once they get through this part of their life.
The State of Utah is a No-Fault State in Terms Of Divorce Proceedings
Interviewer: Do you need a reason to divorce in Utah or is it a no-fault state, where you divorce if you want to?
Michael Anderson: It’s a no-fault state, so all you need to do is say, ‘hey we have irreconcilable differences’ or ‘we don’t get along’ and it’s made the continuation of our marriage impossible, so we want a divorce. There is however a ninety-day waiting period in Utah, so from the moment the petition is filed, we cannot get a decree of entered for at least ninety days. You used to be able to waive it, but you can’t waive it anymore. The appellate court just earlier this year said that we won’t allow you to waive your ninety day waiting period anymore because it was put in place by our legislature, so you have to wait ninety days before to be finalized.
There is a Ninety Day Waiting Period for the Divorce Process to Get Finalized
Interviewer: What does that do to the divorce process – that waiting period? What happens to people?
Michael Anderson: Usually what it does is those who are proactive, we get a mediation done in the meantime to resolve issues if it’s a contested case. But the entire case can move forward it’s just that it can’t be finalized until ninety day have passed. So the only people who really get hurt are those who have an uncontested case – the husband and wife both agree on what the outcome to be and so we call that a stipulated or an uncontested divorce. It just means that it won’t be final for ninety days. So people who want to get remarried, won’t be able to get remarried or really move on, until that’s done.
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8833 S. Redwood Road, Suite C
West Jordan, Utah
84088United States
Telephone: (801) 676-5506
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