Ohio Legal Options for Ending a Marriage

In Ohio, there are three main vehicles for ending a legal marriage: divorce, dissolution, and annulment.

Divorce: "Getting a divorce" is the most commonly used description for the termination of a marriage. In Ohio, there are two main categories of divorce: no-fault and fault. No-fault divorce can be a result of simple "incompatibility" or if the spouses live separately for more than one year. There are a number of grounds for "fault" divorce including adultery, extreme cruelty, bigamy, habitual drunkenness, and a failure to support the family (among others). A divorce is commenced in Ohio with the filing of a complaint with the clerk of courts. The non-filing spouse will then file an answer and/or counter-claim to the initial complaint. A judge is then assigned to the case and attorneys will attempt to work out any perceived differences in the after-marriage planning. If agreements cannot be made, the judge will set the contested issues for trial. These issues will ultimately be determined by the judge, as there is no right to jury trial for divorce cases in Ohio.

Dissolution: Dissolution is somewhat akin to a "Divorce Light." Dissolution is appropriate when the parties can agree to all the major issues outside of court (grounds for divorce, division of assets and liabilities, child custody, child and spousal support, etc.). They are much cheaper and quicker than filing for Divorce. The difficulty often arises in getting both parties to agree to every part of the divorce plan.

Annulment: An annulment is different from Divorce and Dissolution in that it states that the marriage never existed. For an annulment, there must be some reason for a judge to consider it invalid from the start (e.g., fraud, duress, coercion).