Rule 28 of the Rules of Family Law Procedure sets forth when and how you can amend your Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.  But why would you want to amend and what could stop you?

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Amending your petition for dissolution of marriage is essentially drafting it all over again and making substantive changes within that document. Sometimes amending the petition makes sense if you forgot to mention something.  But more often amendments are necessary to avoid having to pay your spouse's attorney's fees.  Spouses should strongly consider amending their petition when the allegations and or demands set forth in that document can be viewed or perceived as being unreasonable by the court. Being viewed as having an unreasonable position by your Judge will have a dynamic negative impact on you in the divorce process.

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This is because if a spouse takes an unreasonable position, then the Court can and likely will assess attorney's fees against the unreasonable spouse.  How do you know whether or not you are being unreasonable? The answer is not simple or straight forward and is highly dependent on the issue, what's in disagreement, and how has the Court decided this issue in the past. Hence, why this is one of the primary reasons why spouses hire a lawyer. Only lawyers know the difference between a reasonable position and an unreasonable position, because they deal with divorce issues every day.

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If you have been accused by your spouse (or his or her lawyer) that you have taken an unreasonable position, that is your cue to immediately seek a lawyer's assistance to potentially avoid having to pay your spouse's attorney's fees. If you and your lawyer later determine that a position you took within the petition for dissolution of marriage is unreasonable, then amending your petition would be necessary.

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However, you cannot amend your petition whenever you want.  If your petition has already been served on your spouse, you either must obtain your spouse's permission to file an amended petition, and if your spouse will not agree, you will have to file a motion to get the Court's approval to allow you to amend your original Petition.

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In any event, you should strongly consider talking to a lawyer about what you want out of your divorce to determine whether or not your desired result is reasonable.  Court forms don't warn you sufficiently about this high-risk issue that will likely impact your divorce or custody case.

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Call Paul D. Nordini for your no-pressure, free phone consultation, to discuss whether or not you should amend your Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.  (480) 527-9000.