Uncontested Divorce in New York (NY)

Everything you need to know about filing for uncontested divorce in New York

In the past few years we have witnessed a major shift in the attitude toward divorce. More couples are choosing to end their marriage in an amicable manner by taking the uncontested divorce route.

Even in divorce cases that involve bitter or painful emotional conflicts, many couples choose to focus on the future, instead of the past - to cut their losses and try to move on with their lives as quickly as possible by avoiding contentious, long, drawn-out legal battles.

In this article we will explain what uncontested divorce is and what your options are when filing for uncontested divorce in New York.

Although you can do it yourself, divorce mediation offers a civilized, responsible and economical way to file for uncontested divorce. 

Got a question regarding uncontested divorce? Contact us or

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What is Uncontested Divorce?

An uncontested divorce is a divorce in which the spouses do not seek to go before a court and have the judge make decisions for them. They instead negotiate a settlement, and then present it, in papers (not in person) to the court, in order to get a divorce.

In truth - 98% of divorce cases in New York are settled by negotiated agreements.

There are several ways in which people reach uncontested divorce:

Do It Yourself (Kitchen Table Settlement): This method works for people whose situations are (legally) very simple; for people who are still able to talk and listen to each other; for people whose conflicts are not about children or property. These folks are able to sit down together and work out all of the details, answer all of the questions.

If you and your spouse fall under this category you can file for divorce by downloading the NY divorce forms and submitting them on your own. 

In case you need help, we can prepare and file your uncontested divorce papers for an affordable fee.

Need help filling out the divorce forms? Call 866.287.2847 or

contact us 

Divorce Mediation: Mediation works for couples who both want to find a way to 'do the right thing' in the divorce settlement - but require the help of a qualified neutral third person to guide them through the process and make sure all issues and aspects of the divorce settlement are addressed.

Mediation let couples reach an agreement that they both feel comfortable with through a civilized and economical process. 

Mediation requires that you both:

• be willing to bring all information to the table, including finances;
• be able to sit in the room with your ex and talk honestly;
• want to come out with a settlement where you are both OK - if your goal is to destroy your ex - mediation is not for you.

Got a question regarding divorce mediation? Contact us or

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Collaborative Divorce: You and your ex each hire attorneys who help you to negotiate directly with each other - but with your attorneys present - helping you to figure out how to protect yourself and your future and understand your legal rights - but also to work together, with your ex, to collaborative a settlement that meets everyone's needs and interests. 

The problem with this method is that many times, when their attorneys present, the negotiation become tedious, long and may even detoriorate into an ugly battle. In addition you each hire his own attorney which makes the process extremely expensive. 

A good alternative is to use divorce mediation and just go over the final agreement with your attorney before you sign it. 

Adversarial Divorce: You each hire adversarial, traditional attorneys to fight for you, to get the best settlement for you, even at the cost of destroying your ex.

- You might use Orders of Protection to get your spouse out of the house;

- you will have them formally served with papers;

- you will try not to talk to him/her except through lawyers or in court;

- you will fight about your children's schedule for seeing both of you;

- you will try to pay as little money as possible, or ask for as much money as possible.

- Most often, these cases are settled by attorneys, with or without the judge, during intermediate stages of the case.

- 2% of these cases will go to trial - which in NY - will cost upwards of $200,000.

Uncontested Divorce - Do It Yourself or Through Divorce Mediation?

Even if you and your spouse are separating in good terms and agree on most issues, you may wish to consider reviewing your agreement with a qualified mediator. This will ensure that all aspects of your divorce agreement were addressed and considered prior to filling the divorce forms to the court.

Once agreement has been reached on all the issues, then the court has a packet of uncontested divorce forms which have to be prepared and filed with the court. If you and your ex have settled all issues between you, then you can filed the uncontested divorce forms yourself - you are not required to use an attorney!

The forms are a little complicated, however, and most people do choose to have an attorney fill out the forms, and then do the 3 trips to the court that it takes to complete the divorce filing.

If you require help filling for uncontested divorce, our team can prepare and file the forms for a fee of $1050. If the court requests additional information, or wants a form revised, that work will be done by us at no additional charge.

If you wish to do it yourself, you can download the court's matrimonial forms

If you are not sure about the best route you and your spouse should take we invite you for a free 30 minutes, no-obligation consultation where we will go over your situation and explore your options. 

For a free consultation call 866.287.2847 or

schedule a free consultation