Complainant
The term complainant is a legal term that refers to the person that is filing for divorce, or making their complaint before the courts.
Respondent
The term respondent is a legal term that refers to the person who has received notice of their spouse’s intention to file a divorce.
Financial disclosure
Financial disclosure is the term used to describe making each party’s financial assets and liabilities known before the courts, lawyers, or divorce mediators.
Equitable distribution
Equitable distribution refers to the fairest splitting of the couple’s assets and usually means a fifty-fifty or half-and-half distribution. In order to determine the distribution, the specifics of the couple’s arguments are considered, and weighting is put on whether one person is at fault. The one that is deemed at fault or at greater fault is likely to get a reduced settlement amount.
Settlement
The term settlement in divorce refers to the amount of money, valued either in cash or assets, that an individual is awarded on dissolution of a marriage. Assets are the things of value that may come into the possession of a couple while they are married and may include the house the couple lived in, motor vehicles, boats, antiques, paintings and furniture.
Divorce Lawyer
If you and your spouse are unable to reach an amicable settlement, you will need to hire a divorce lawyer or a family lawyer that specializes in divorce who can adequately prepare you to make the settlement. There are a number of family law and divorce law practitioners in the BVI. Most law firms in the territory can accommodate someone trying to file a divorce. The cost of a divorce lawyer ranges from $1,000 to $2,500 if the divorce is non-contentious. For contentious proceedings or those where the parties find it difficult to agree on the terms, lawyer fees can range from $2,500 to $10,000 depending on the length of time it takes to actually make the settlement. If children are involved, the cost may rise. One should also be aware of the different court fees that are associated with filing divorce.
Child Support
Child support in the BVI is $25 dollars per week which works out to $100 dollars a month. This actually isn’t a whole lot of money and your child may have other needs that arise throughout the month which you should assist with even if you are not the custodial parent and are paying child support. Whether you are the custodial parent or not you should factor child support into your new household budget, either as income or expenditure.
Divorce Court Proceedings
Divorce Court Proceedings are the final round in events when a couple is unable to reach a settlement outside of court. The length of time the proceedings may take depends on the case and the judge will make the final decision on what settlement either party receives.