One-signature Divorce

(Complaint for Divorce)

• When filing a Complaint for Divorce in Nevada, one party acts as Plaintiff and the other party is known as the Defendant.
• Once the divorce is filed, it becomes necessary to serve the Defendant with the Complaint for Divorce and the Summons. From that time on, the Defendant has 21 days to file an Answer and Counter Claim with the court. If the Defendant does not respond at all, your divorce case continues as an uncontested matter and a Default is filed with the court.
• Once the Default is granted, the Decree of Divorce goes to the judge for consideration. Once the judge signs the decree, and the clerk files it, your divorce becomes final.
• If the Defendant does file an Answer, you now have a contested divorce. If this occurs, it becomes very important to retain a competent and experienced lawyer who practices Nevada family law in order to protect your rights.

Can’t locate your spouse?

If you cannot locate your spouse, you may still obtain a divorce through a default process whereby the Defendant (your spouse) is “served by publication.” This involves attempted service on your spouse by a process server, at your spouse’s last-known address, followed by publication of the Summons in a newspaper, once a week for five weeks, if the process server truly could not find your spouse and therefore could not personally serve the Divorce Complaint and Summons to your spouse.

When is a divorce contested?

• Even when the Defendant does not sign the divorce papers along with the Plaintiff, it does not necessarily mean that the Nevada divorce is contested.
• If a Defendant does nothing after the Nevada divorce is filed and the proper procedure for such cases is followed, the Nevada divorce is still considered to be uncontested.
• A Nevada divorce becomes contested ONLY when Defendant files an Answer (either through an attorney or in Proper Person) stating
  that Defendant contests the divorce.

Nevada Divorce Resident Witness

• At least one of the parties in a Nevada divorce must have resided in Nevada for a minimum of six-weeks just prior to the filing for either a Joint Petition for a Nevada Divorce, or a Nevada Divorce Complaint as per Nevada Revised Statute (NRS 125.020).

• The Court requires proof of your residency in the form of a Resident Witness Affidavit. The individual who signs this sworn Affidavit in front of a notary must be another Nevada resident who knows you to have lived in Nevada for a minimum of six weeks before the date your divorce was filed.

• See Nevada Divorce Residency for more details

*Court Costs currently $326 ($342 with children) for Joint Petition, and $364 for a Complaint) and cost of process service and publication (when the other party won’t sign or cannot be found) is additional: process service in Las Vegas is average $125 and in the U.S. average cost is $160; publication average $150. Out of country service costs vary by country and are individual to each case.