Gwinnett County Divorce – What is the Divorce Process in Gwinnett County? 

Douglas W. Lewis, Lawrenceville Divorce Attorney – serving Gwinnett County and the metro-Atlanta area in Divorce, Family Law, Legitimation, Paternity, Modification, Contempt and Custody cases.

10 Steps to the Gwinnett County Divorce Process

As an experienced Lawrenceville Divorce Attorney that has successfully handled over 20 years' worth of divorce cases in Gwinnett County, I have come to know the divorce process in Gwinnett County quite well.  Below are the 10 general steps to the Gwinnett County Divorce process:

Step 1 – Hire and consult with an experienced and dedicated divorce attorney that has practiced in Gwinnett County for a number of years, knows the Gwinnett County court system well, and will give trusted advice and counsel.

Step 2 – File the Summons and Petition for Divorce with the Gwinnett County Superior Court (see my article How to File For Divorce in Gwinnett County Superior Court).  The clerk's office is on the first floor of the Gwinnett County Justice and Administration Center (GJAC) located at 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville, Georgia.  The eFiling fees charged by the Gwinnett County Superior Court clerk total $237.00.

Step 3 – Have your spouse, known as the Defendant, properly served with the divorce papers and any Gwinnett County Standing Orders.  In most cases the sheriff's department in the county of the Defendant's residence will personally serve the Defendant with the divorce papers.  The fee charged by the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department for personal service is $50.00.

Step 4 – Initiate the discovery process.  Serve your spouse with Interrogatories, Request for Production of Documents, and/or Request for Admissions.  Schedule depositions and conduct non-party discovery if needed.

Step 5 – Schedule a Temporary Hearing if necessary.  When the judge's office schedules a temporary hearing the court will issue and send out a Rule Nisi to the parties.  If minor children are involved in the Gwinnett County divorce case then a motion for the appointment of a Guardian ad Litem may be warranted.

Step 6 – Prepare for the Temporary Hearing (also known as the Interlocutory Hearing).

Step 7 – Make a Good Faith Effort to settle some or all of the issues of the divorce case through the exchange of settlement proposals between the attorneys and/or through a Gwinnett ADR mediation session.  If the divorce case is settled with the signing of a settlement agreement and all other required documents then the divorce becomes an uncontested case and no final trial is needed.  The Gwinnett County divorce process will be completed in an uncontested case once the judge signs the Final Judgment and Decree of Divorce.

Step 8 – Complete the discovery process if the divorce case does not settle.  File a Motion to Compel if your spouse does not comply with your discovery requests.

Step 9 – Prepare for the Final Trial.

Step 10 – The Final Trial is held before a Gwinnett County Superior Court judgewho will make a ruling at the end based on the evidence presented at trial.  The judge's ruling will be reduced to writing in the form of the Final Judgment and Decree of Divorce.

The above steps are only meant to give a general overview of the divorce process in Gwinnet County Divorce Court.  The more issues there are and the more complex a divorce case is then the more steps that are required and the more involved the divorce process will be.

If you or a family member or a friend have any questions about a Gwinnett County divorce case or divorce case in any other County in the metro-Atlanta area including Cobb, Dekalb, Fulton, Walton, Barrow, Hall and Forsyth counties, then please do not hesitate to immediately call attorney Doug Lewis at770-682-3765 for a free initial telephone consultation.

Lawrenceville Divorce Lawyer Douglas W. Lewis has over twenty years of experience in Gwinnett County and the Atlanta Metro area handling divorce, legitimation, paternity and child custody cases, family law cases, personal injury cases, criminal defense, civil litigation cases and estate planning matters.  If you have any questions please call the Lawrenceville office for a free initial phone consultation or to schedule an office consultation.  You can contact attorney Doug Lewis by telephone at 770-682-3765, via email.  Client reviews can be found on Mr. Lewis' Google + page and on his website.