Filing for divorce generally includes (1) filing the necessary paperwork with the appropriate state or county court; (2) paying the filing fee; and (3) having the paperwork properly served on (handed to) your spouse—known as service of process.

This paperwork generally consists of a complaint or petition that includes the names of the spouses, the grounds for the divorce (fault or no-fault), whether there are children involved in the marriage, and whether the spouse is seeking child custody, child support, or spousal support.

A spouse generally may file for divorce in the state and county in which the spouse resides—or in which the other spouse resides. In many states the spouse must have lived in the state or county for a specified period of time before filing for divorce. Laws regarding this residency requirement and where a lawsuit for divorce may be filed vary from state to state and with circumstances in which the spouses share minor children.

Laws regarding the requirements for filing for divorce are usually located in a state’s statutes—often in the family code or domestic relations code.

In Pennsylvania (PA), filing for divorce involves submitting the necessary paperwork to the county court where one of the spouses resides. The initial document is typically a divorce complaint, which outlines the basic information about the marriage, including the names of the spouses, the grounds for divorce (either fault-based or no-fault), and details regarding children, custody, and financial support if applicable. Pennsylvania allows for both fault-based and no-fault divorces. For a no-fault divorce, the spouses may consent to the divorce or they may be separated for a period of at least one year. To file for divorce in PA, at least one spouse must have been a resident of the state for a minimum of six months prior to filing. The filing spouse must also pay a filing fee. After filing, the divorce papers must be legally served to the other spouse, which is known as 'service of process.' The specific procedures and requirements can be found in the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, Title 23, which covers domestic relations and family law.