FILING YOUR PAPERS

To file your papers, all you do is take them to the county clerk's office and hand them to the clerk. The clerk will date stamp the original. When you file the petition, you must also pay the filing fee. The county with which you file is most often the one you live in. Before you go there, call the clerk's office and ask questions such as:

1) Directions to the courthouse;

2) The office where the papers are to be filed;

3) How much the filing fees are for a dissolution;

4) What hours the clerk's office is open; and

5) What hours the judge or court commissioner hears divorce cases;

6) What local forms are required to be filed in order to

(a) initiate the dissolution process,

(b) note up a hearing for approval of the final dissolution papers,

(c) if you intend to obtain temporary orders (See Chapter 10), get the matter before a judge (or court commissioner in larger counties), and

(d) get a trial date set (if your case is contested and cannot be settled).

The clerk will give you a case number when you file your first papers. All future documents you file must have this case number on them.

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