One of the most important things to remember, following a divorce, is that there are things that must still be done following the divorce.
Don’t wait to do these things, thinking that you can do them when you get around to them.
Sometimes Judgments of Dissolution were not done as well as they could have been.
A prime example may relate to a car or a piece of real estate, such as a house.
Although a Judgment of Dissolution may assign certain debts to one former spouse, the other former spouse may also still be liable on these debts.
If you were liable prior to a divorce, you are likely still liable after a divorce.
Until recently, it was quite clear in Oregon that a person could file for a divorce, even after a judicial settlement, and that the court could order something completely different in the divorce than was ordered or agreed on in the separation.
Sometimes there is a situation where one side has filed a case in court first, and where the other side filed somewhat later, in another county, but achieved service on the first person first.
In some situations there is a question whether one is allowed to file a divorce case in Oregon. This can be an issue if you have recently moved to Oregon, or if your spouse lives out of state.
In Oregon, one can only file for divorce in a county where one party or the other lives.
People sometimes wonder whether they gain an advantage by filing first in a divorce situation.
In some cases, the answer is yes.
Many General Judgments of Dissolution (sometimes called Divorce Decrees) require retirement assets be split, or require some retirement assets to be transferred or assigned to the owner’s former spouse.
Under Oregon law, a divorced spouse will be treated as pre-deceased for purposes of inheritance from their former spouse under a Will that existed before the divorce, in most cases.