Editorial Standards & Methodology

Our commitment in one sentence

We organize and explain publicly available divorce filing procedures accurately, name the court or statute behind each requirement, and never invent a form, a fee, a waiting period, a deadline, or a person.

Where our information comes from

Divorce procedure is set by state law and administered by state courts, so courts and statutes are our primary sources. When we describe a requirement, we work from the material that actually governs it:

• State judiciary self-help centers and the official court websites that publish divorce instructions for people filing without an attorney.
• The official form sets and filing instructions published by state courts and county clerks.
• State statutes on dissolution of marriage, including residency requirements, waiting periods, and property and support frameworks.
• Court fee schedules and local procedures published by the clerks who actually accept the filings.

Where a claim depends on an outside source, we favor official .gov and state judiciary pages so you can read the rule at its source and confirm it yourself.

How we handle facts that vary by state and county

Residency requirements, waiting periods, form names, filing fees, and local procedures differ by state and often by county, and they change. Rather than print a single answer that would be wrong somewhere, we mark a jurisdiction's specific facts as verified only when we have read them directly from that jurisdiction's official source. For anything we have not verified yet, our guides and tools give you an honest framework and the exact questions to ask your court clerk or self-help center instead of a guess dressed up as a fact.

Who writes and reviews our content

Our articles and tools are researched, written, and edited by the DivorceClear Editorial Team, a group of writers and researchers who focus on how divorce filing works on paper. Every article carries this team byline and a published or updated date.

We are deliberate about what we are not. We are not attorneys, judges, mediators, or court employees, and we do not publish content under invented expert names, fabricated credentials, or a made-up legal review board. When a decision calls for legal judgment, and in divorce many do, we say so and point you to a licensed family law attorney or your court's self-help center instead of pretending to be one.

How we keep content current

Each article shows when it was published and, when applicable, when it was last updated. We revisit content on a rolling basis and when we learn that a statute, form, fee, or court procedure has changed. Court procedures still move faster than any publisher can track perfectly, so a date on this site tells you when we last reviewed a page, not that a rule has not changed since. Always confirm current requirements with your court before you file.

Corrections and feedback

If you spot something that looks out of date or wrong, tell us and we will check it against the source and fix it promptly. Accurate content is more valuable to us than being right the first time, and reader corrections make this resource better for the next person going through this.

Email corrections to team@divorceclear.com with the page URL and what you believe should change.

Independence and how we pay for this

DivorceClear is an independent information publisher and document preparation service. We are not a law firm, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any court or government agency. We do not accept payment from anyone in exchange for coverage. Our free guides and tools are supported by our paid preparation packet, which organizes your own answers and numbers into a personalized set of worksheets and checklists. Buying it is never required to read our free content, and a purchase never changes what a court requires or decides.

Related

Read more about who we are on our About page, review our full disclaimer, or browse our 1808 published articles.