I want a Divorce


Am I Divorced Yet

One of the biggest questions people getting divorced have is:

“AM I DIVORCED YET?!”

This is a pretty important question!  In fact, there is a great deal of confusion surrounding when someone is divorced in New York and how you find out.

The answer is simple:

In New York, when a Judge signs your Judgment of Divorce and it is entered by the Clerk, you are officially divorced!

So, that being said, how do you find out if a New York Judge has signed your Divorce Judgment?

There are a number of ways.

This page will focus on one way in particular to find out if your divorce has gone through in New York. That way is by checking the Unified Court System’s Ecourts/WebSupreme site and looking for the answer.

How to use E-Courts to find out if a Divorce Judgment has been signed:

Open up ECOURTS – “WebCivil Supreme” in a web browser. WebCivil Supreme is the New York Court system’s online appearance information system for New York Supreme Court cases.

  1. Log in as a public user. (if necessary or prompted to, otherwise skip this step).
  2. Search for your case. You can search for cases on E-Courts by Party Name, Index Number or Attorney/Firm Name. Click the type of search you want to perform.
  3. You may be prompted to enter a “CAPTCHA CODE” or have to complete some other challenge to ensure that you are not a robot. If you are a robot, you are not welcome and shame on you for being a robot. If you are a data miner, it seems you are not welcome either and should take your mining self somewhere else with all that data mining and stuff.  Once you complete the mission and possibly fight a ninja to prove yourself worthy to use the system, your search fields should show on the screen.
  4. Enter your name or index number (or other appropriate information). In Name search, remember to choose Plaintiff (if you filed the divorce), Defendant (if you got served with papers) or the “either” option. Also, it will help a whole bunch if you enter county information, especially if you have a common name.
  5. When you find your case, look at the case status.  Is it “disposed” or “active”?  If it is “disposed” there is a change that a Judgment has been signed. However, sometimes, cases that have been marked off calendar or contested cases in which the Judge orders a divorce in court on the record will show up as “disposed” but not have a judgment signed yet (after such an occurrence, the parties must file documents for the court to review, including a proposed judgment).
  6. If you do not find your case, you may be inputting your information wrong. Also, your name may have been inputted into the system wrong. Or, most likely, you have not yet had an RJI filed in your case which means your case has not been put on the calendar at any point. This may be because the case is still too new or because you have not filed the final divorce papers yet. A filed divorce which has not gone in front of a judge and has not yet filed the final divorce packet would probably not show up in this system. Needless to say, such a case is not yet going to have a judgment of divorce signed.
  7. Click the Index Number, which should be a link and should look like this: 12345/2016.
  8. A screen with case information should pop up.  One of the buttons on that screen should read “Show Appearances”. Click that button.
  9. You should see at least one appearance.  If your case has more than one appearance, you are looking through them for the following entry in the Comments field: “JUD. SGD.”  See the next step for an example (future dates are used here but the dates will have passed already):
  10. Appearance Information:
    Appearance
    Date
    Time On For Appearance
    Outcome
    Justice /
    Part
    Comments Motion
    Seq
    08/12/2018   Supreme Trial Inquest Held  JAKE S.  PAPAJOHN
    CONFERENCE PART 5
    JUD. SGD. 5/4/18
    TO CC 5/8/18
  11. If your case has an appearance with a comment field with JUD. SGD or some similar notation, Congratulations, changes are, the Judge has signed your divorce judgment and chances are it has been filed or will be filed any day/week now! You are probably divorced! It can take a couple of weeks after the Judge signs for all of the papers to be filed and get where they need to go.
  12. If you see nothing of the sort in any comment field, there is a good likelihood that the court has not yet gotten to your divorce matter or might have sent you a postcard in order to get you to correct your documents.
  13. If your papers have been signed, don’t go rushing down to the courthouse! As set forth above, it takes time for all the papers to get where they have to go. You may want to contact the county clerk in your county to ensure that the documents are ready to be picked up or copied. There may be fees associated with obtaining copies of your divorce papers (there are most likely fees).

See Also:

Frequently Asked Questions, Queens Supreme Court: How do I know if my Divorce was signed?

The Queens Supreme Court also has a good explanation of how to get divorce judgment information.


Please Note: This site is not in anyway affiliated with the New York State Unified Court System and is provided for informational purposes only. This information is being provided for free and as a courtesy and is not intended in any way to constitute legal advice or to create an attorney-client relationship. Please contact your personal lawyer for legal advice or advice as to your own personal situation.

 

YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN THESE NEW YORK DIVORCE RESOURCES:

New York Divorce Law

Free New York Divorce Forms Online

How Long Does A Divorce Take in New York?

Where is the Divorce Court in New York?

Where can I obtain Marriage Records in New York City?

 

di·vorce forms
pronunciation:
/do it yourself/
noun
1. forms you use to file for a divorce.
Where do you get divorce forms?
Many state courts provide divorce forms for free on their websites or at the courthouse! Often, the forms you buy from third parties are the exact same forms or similar to those that are provided for free!

 

When should I use divorce forms?

If you have a lawyer, you should always consult him or her for legal advice. Often, people who have an uncontested divorce use divorce forms to file for a divorce. Many document preparation services are simply filling the forms out for you. In fact, only attorneys can give you legal advice about your divorce. If you have a contested divorce, you may want to seek legal advice from a lawyer.  People seeking to represent themselves in Divorce Court may find these forms helpful.

find divorce forms online

Click any of the links to learn more! We will be updating this page in the future. Stay tuned!

STATE DIVORCE LAWS

These are links to each of our pages which contain States Divorce Forms which are free:

    1. Alabama Divorce Forms
    2. Alaska Divorce Forms
    3. Arizona Divorce Forms
    4. Arkansas Divorce Forms
    5. California Divorce Forms
    6. Colorado Divorce Forms
    7. ConnecticutDivorce Forms
    8. Delaware Divorce Forms
    9. Florida Divorce Forms
    10. Georgia Divorce Forms
    11. Hawaii Divorce Forms
    12. Idaho Divorce Forms
    13. Illinois Divorce Forms
    14. Indiana Divorce Forms
    15. Iowa Divorce Forms
    16. Kansas Divorce Forms
    17. Kentucky Divorce Forms
    18. Louisiana Divorce Forms
    19. Maine Divorce Forms
    20. Maryland Divorce Forms
    21. Massachusetts Divorce Forms
    22. Michigan Divorce Forms
    23. Minnesota Divorce Forms
    24. Mississippi Divorce Forms
    25. Missouri Divorce Forms
    26. Montana Divorce Forms
    27. Nebraska Divorce Forms
    28. Nevada Divorce Forms
    29. New Hampshire Divorce Forms
    30. New Jersey Divorce Forms
    31. New Mexico Divorce Forms
    32. New York Divorce Forms

 

    1. North Carolina Divorce Forms
    2. North Dakota Divorce Forms
    3. Ohio Divorce Forms
    4. Oklahoma Divorce Laws
    5. Oregon Divorce Forms
    6. Pennsylvania Divorce Forms
    7. Rhode Island Divorce Forms
    8. South Carolina Divorce Forms
    9. South Dakota Divorce Forms
    10. Tennessee Divorce Forms
    11. Texas Divorce Forms

 

  1. Utah Divorce Forms
  2. Vermont Divorce Forms
  3. Virginia Divorce Forms
  4. Washington Divorce Forms
  5. West Virginia Divorce Forms
  6. Wisconsin Divorce Forms
  7. Wyoming Divorce Forms
  8. District of Columbia Divorce Forms
  9. Puerto Rico Divorce Forms

 

 

un·con·test·ed
di·vorce
pronounciation:
no outstanding issues/
noun
1. a divorce in which both parties agree on the grounds for divorce and there are no disagreements as to any issues, including finances, assets, child custody & child support.
verb
1. legally dissolve one’s marriage with (someone) without issue or by default.

 

A divorce is only uncontested if there are no outstanding issues.  None.

In order to be an uncontested divorce the parties must agree about:

  • Grounds: The parties must agree on the reason for the divorce (irretrievable breakdown, abandonment, etc).
  • Property: The parties must agree on how marital property (including bank accounts, real estate & businesses) will be split. The must be in agreement as to how retirement assets and other such property should be dealt with.
  • Maintenance/Alimony: The parties must agree whether there will be maintenance or alimony and if so, the amounts and length of time such is to be paid.
  • Child Support: If there are children, the amount to be paid in child support must not in dispute.
  • Child Custody: There should be an agreement as to whether there is joint custody and/or a certain party is the custodial parent.  A visitation and parenting plan should be created and agreed upon.

If the parties disagree about anything, then they have a contested divorce

Click about to learn more about contested divorces.

 judgment of divorce =

agreement/judgment as to grounds + agreement/judgment as to assets + agreement/judgment as to all other issues including child support & child custody

uncontested divorces are much cheaper than contested divorces!

uncontested divorces are much quicker than contested divorces!