Amicable divorce
Amicable divorce
First and foremost, you should know that only a judge has the power to declare that a marriage has been dissolved and to grant a divorce. There is therefore no such thing as an amicable divorce that does not involve going before a court, which can be approached in three different ways.Firstly, it is possible to divorce by joint petition with full agreement. This means that the spouses apply to the judge together, presenting a divorce agreement that fully settles the incidental effects of the divorce. The court will ratify the agreement provided it is not manifestly unfair. The agreement on the ancillary effects will deal in particular with the custody and maintenance of the children, any contributions between the spouses, the allocation of the marital home, as well as the distribution of the couple's assets such as savings in bank accounts, occupational pension provision, insurance policies and movable or immovable property. Secondly, if the spouses agree in principle to divorce but only agree on certain ancillary effects of the divorce, they may file a joint petition for divorce with partial agreement and leave it to the judge to settle the points of divergence. The incidental effects on which the spouses have agreed will be set out in the agreement and those that remain in dispute will be pleaded by each spouse before the court, which will give its ruling.The third way of getting divorced is for one of the spouses to file a unilateral petition with the judge. To do this, the spouses must have been living separately for at least two years, failing which the defendant may oppose the application without even having to justify his or her refusal. However, if there are serious grounds that are not attributable to the spouse wishing to divorce and that make the continuation of the marriage unbearable, the divorce may be granted before the expiry of the two-year separation period. Such serious grounds include physical or psychological violence likely to endanger the health of the applicant spouse or his or her children. As you can see, the second option seems to be the most appropriate in your case, and it will undoubtedly be useful for you to consult a lawyer so that you can properly present to the judge the points on which you agree with your wife and those on which you disagree, in order if possible to avoid creating unnecessary tension in a situation that can often be emotionally difficult to manage.
