Legal Fundamentals

Before you can navigate divorce effectively, you need to understand the legal framework. Family law varies dramatically by state — what’s true in California may be completely different in Texas. This lesson helps you research your state’s specific requirements and understand the decisions ahead.

Types of Divorce

Start with the least adversarial option that’s safe for your situation. You can always escalate — but you can rarely de-escalate once litigation begins.

State Research Prompt

Research divorce requirements for my state:

State: [your state]
Situation: [married X years, children yes/no, own property yes/no]

Help me understand:
1. Residency requirements (how long must I have lived here to file?)
2. Grounds for divorce (no-fault vs fault options)
3. Separation period requirements (if any)
4. Filing fees and court costs
5. Property division approach (community property or equitable distribution)
6. Custody presumption (joint or other)
7. Average timeline from filing to finalization
8. Required disclosures (financial, etc.)

Important: Provide general framework, then tell me exactly what to
verify on my state's official court website.

Property Division: Two Systems

How your assets are divided depends on which of two systems your state uses.

“Marital assets” = acquired during the marriage. “Separate assets” = owned before marriage or received as inheritance/gift during marriage (in most states).

✅ Quick Check: You inherited $50,000 from your grandmother during the marriage and kept it in a separate account. Is it marital property? (Answer: Generally no — inheritance is usually separate property IF you kept it separate. But if you deposited it into a joint account or used it for joint expenses like a home renovation, it may have been “commingled” and could be considered marital property. This is exactly the kind of situation where an attorney’s advice is critical.)

Key Legal Decisions

Early Decisions That Matter

Attorney Consultation Prep

Help me prepare for my divorce attorney consultation:

My situation:
- Married [X] years
- Children: [ages]
- Property: [home, vehicles, retirement accounts, businesses]
- Income: [your income vs spouse's income]
- Concerns: [custody, assets, safety, timeline]

Create:
1. A 1-page marriage timeline (key dates and events)
2. A summary of known assets and debts
3. My top 10 questions in priority order
4. A list of documents to bring
5. My goals for the divorce (what matters most to me)

Practice Exercise

1. Use the state research prompt to understand your specific jurisdiction — what surprised you about your state’s laws?
2. Prepare an attorney consultation packet using the prompt above — even if you haven’t hired an attorney yet, this exercise organizes your thinking
3. List all legal decisions you’ll need to make and rank them by urgency

Key Takeaways

• Start with the least adversarial option that’s safe — mediation resolves 70% of cases at 40-60% less cost than litigation
• Your state’s property division system (community property vs equitable distribution) fundamentally shapes how assets are split
• Separation periods aren’t dead time — use them to build your financial inventory, research attorneys, and prepare custody proposals
• Attorney consultations are expensive — prepare organized materials so you spend time on strategy, not background explanation
• AI helps you research general legal concepts and organize documents, but state-specific details and legal strategy require an attorney
• Every legal decision early in the process (who files, temporary orders, mediation vs litigation) affects the trajectory of the entire case

Up Next

In the next lesson, you’ll build a complete financial inventory — every asset, every debt, every income source, organized for disclosure and division.