Petitioner -vs- Respondent
The Petitioner
The Petitioner is the persion who petitions the court for divorce.
If you are the Petitioner, you will remain labeled as such, ”Petitioner”, in all future filings related to the divorce or related later issues like child custody, child support, relocating party, etc.
If you are the Petitioner then you get to pick the time and date of the filing. This can often be the time or date used by the courts or the judge to establish asset value in the division of assets between you and your spouse.
The Petitioner gets to set the venue or location of the divorce proceedings, which can be important if you and your ex-spouse have relocated to different cities.
If you are the Petiioner, you or your attorney gets to make the opening statement at the hearing(s), this could be useful for setting the initial tone and might instill a slight bias of perspective for the judge, his first impression of the couple and the situation.
The Respondent
The Respondent is the one who responds to the court proceedings and petition for dissolution of marriage.
The only real advantage to being the respondent is that you don’t have to pay the initial court filing fees, which vary from area to area.
The Conclusion or Verdict
So as I see it,
if you are certain it is going to happen
and you think it might be a bit of a battle to get it done
or you have timing or jurisdiction/location issues,
then you are probably ahead to be the Petitioner in your divorce and take the necessary action to get your divorce started and get your life back again.
Please realize however that I am not urging or pushing anyone toward divorce. That has to be your decision and if you think there is a chance to make it work and you are researching, wondering and hoping it all wasn’t happening, then don’t give up hope and if they file, then deal with it… There isn’t enough advantage to make a big deal out of it.
If you think you want to work on your marriage you might check this out: