Before going through the nuts and bolts of the divorce process itself, here are some things to expect.
First, judges are busy. Very busy. It would be a mistake to think that judges will read through long, convoluted documents or listen to lengthy, rambling discussions in court. It would also be a mistake to expect judges to make moral pronouncements praising the good party and reprimanding the bad party. Judges want to get down to the business of applying the law as soon as possible. Someone once figured out that judges have, on average, 4 minutes to read any particular filing. In a court hearing, you will be lucky if you have 5 minutes of air time to talk. Most judges just want a few basic facts and then make their decision. If you want to the judge to understand something, say it up front, say it clearly, and say it in a way they will understand.
Second, judges make mistakes, largely because they are too busy to really understand everything presented to them. Part of the art of a good attorney is getting the judge to make mistakes in a certain direction. And unfortunately, there is usually very little you can do to fix the mistakes once made. Judges don't like reconsidering their decisions, and appellate courts rarely get involved in cases until after the trial decision, which is usually too late.
Third, litigation is unpredictable. Judges make unpredictable mistakes. Even when its not a mistake, a judge's decision can be unpredictable. Sometimes evidence is admitted that should be excluded, and sometimes evidence is excluded that should be admitted. Sometimes a judge will believe a lie despite mountains of evidence to the contrary. Sometimes attorneys are able to use technicalities to gain the upper hand. Expect the unexpected.
Fourth, litigation is slow. Divorce cases typically take a year or more. It is a marathon not a sprint. Try to take care of yourself with healthy and fun activities and maintain any support network that you might have. At the same time, try to work through the emotional toll of the failed marriage towards an acceptance of a new and hopefully better life ahead.
Here are the actual stages of most divorce cases. Although the divorce process is slightly different for each court and each judge, divorces in Clark County, Nevada generally go through a similar process.
A divorce begins with the initial Complaint for Divorce. Within 21 days of service, the Defendant must file an Answer to the Complaint for Divorce. The Answer to Complaint is usually accompanied by a Counterclaim for Divorce. If it does, the Plaintiff has 21 days to file an Answer to Counterclaim.
One party or the other usually files some sort of Motion for Temporary Orders. This Motion requests various orders that are called 'temporary' because they only last while the litigation is ongoing. Some common temporary orders are for financial support, exclusive possession of the marital residence, temporary custody arrangements, and preliminary help paying for attorney fees.
30 days after serving the Complaint for Divorce, both parties are required to provide a set of mandatory initial disclosures pursuant to NRCP 16.2(d). It is a long list, and thoughtful attorneys will contact the other side and try to reach an agreement on which disclosures are actually needed. This saves the parties considerable time digging up documents that are not really needed, and saves the legal costs of compiling and serving such documents. Unfortunately, most attorneys are not thoughtful enough to do this. In fact, most attorneys just ignore the mandatory initial disclosures altogether, which often prolongs the case and sometimes hurts their clients.
Also 30 days after serving the Complaint for Divorce, both parties are required to file a Financial Disclosure Form (FDF). Many attorneys are late to do so, but it is dangerous to be too late. Unlike the disclosures, which are done only between the parties or their attorneys, the judge will see who filed their FDF timely. A party must file an FDF within two days of requesting any financial orders or risk having their request disregarded. A party who shows up to any court hearing not having filed the FDF at least a few days before risks being reprimanded or even sanctioned by the judge.
Within 45 days of the Answer, the parties and their attorneys are supposed to meet in an Early Case Conference (ECC). The ECC is very useful tool for helping to figure out what the parties agree on, what facts still need to be determined, and what needs to be decided by the Court. If something needs to be determined, it is an opportunity for everyone to figure out how to do so. If there are no real issues, it is a chance to settle the case. The ECC will usually streamline the case, reduce the number of documents that need to be disclosed, help with quicker resolution, and ultimately reduce legal fees for everyone. Unfortunately, most attorneys simply ignore the ECC. This is probably just because they are too busy, but the more skeptical will say that it is because attorneys are afraid of settling cases too early and missing out on the legal fees they might otherwise be able to charge.
14 days after the ECC, the parties should file an ECC Report with the court containing what was discussed and agreed on. Since most attorneys ignore the ECC requirement, they likewise ignore the ECC report requirement. A few attorneys, bizarrely enough, file an ECC report even though there was no ECC, stating within what their positions would have been had there been an ECC.
One to two months after the Answer to the Complaint for Divorce is filed, the Court will hold a Case Management Conference (CMC), in which both parties and their attorneys come to court and discuss the case with the judge. Attorneys who have met and conferred prior to the CMC can usually make good use of the time to ask the court to resolve any outstanding questions and inform the judge how they think the case can be resolved, or if it can't be resolved, what is needed for trial. This is relatively rare, however. Many attorneys barely look at the case until the morning of the CMC, and come to court completely unprepared to do anything except to sling some mud at the other party and ask for a trial date.
At some point most attorneys will use discovery to find missing evidence and information. There are 5 primary forms of discovery:
Subpoenas to third parties for documents;
Requests for the Production of Documents;
Interrogatories;
Requests for Admissions; and
Depositions of witnesses.
Diligent attorneys will begin using discovery soon after receiving the initial disclosures. Less diligent attorneys will wait until a month or two before trial before using discovery. Even though discovery is supposed to be proportionate to the needs of the case, most people will still find that responding to discovery is very burdensome. Sometimes attorneys zealously try to keep the other side from getting the documents and information they need. Sometimes attorneys use discovery as a weapon to harass and burden the other side. Other times, one party will not comply with discovery requests even though it is clear to reasonable attorneys that they should. Sometimes motions have to be filed with the discovery commissioner to determine what discovery is legitimate and what is not. If everyone cooperates, discovery is usually relatively painless. If not, discovery can become the most difficult, time consuming, burdensome, and expensive part of a case.
Sooner or later, there are attempts to settle the case. Sometimes the parties settle the case between themselves and tell their attorneys what that settlement is. That is especially common if the attorneys are not very attentive to the case or seem to be running up expenses for no reason. Other times the attorneys are able to settle the case, either through letters, phone calls, or in-person meetings. The parties, however, always have final say as to whether any settlement offer is extended or accepted. If the parties and the attorneys cannot settle the case themselves, they will sometimes use mediation - hiring a neutral third party, usually another attorney or a judge, to help each side see the value of compromising their claims and reaching a resolution. The most common time to settle a case is about a month before trial, although sometimes cases settle much earlier and sometimes cases settle only minutes before trial begins.
If the parties cannot settle, there will eventually be a trial after which the judge will make a decision. The trial, also called an evidentiary hearing, is much like people see on television, with witnesses being sworn in, sitting in a witness box, and offering testimony for the Court. Documents are usually offered into evidence through the testimony of the witnesses. There is no jury in family court.
After the judge's decision, the parties can appeal. But an appeal is not a complete do-over. The appellate court will not allow the parties to submit any more evidence or make any claims not made in the trial. Instead, the appellate court will look only at the evidence admitted at trial and the testimony offered, and decide whether the judge made an error.
The best attorneys are familiar enough with the process to Having the right attorney is important not only to help navigate the process, but to implement the right strategy to get the best results.