Search this topic and you get a list of eleven “types of divorce” — contested, uncontested, no-fault, summary, default, mediated, collaborative, arbitrated, pro se, and so on — presented as though you walk into a courthouse and pick one.
That framing is wrong, and it is why the topic stays confusing. Those eleven items are not eleven alternatives. They are three separate questions, and every divorce answers all three.
Updated: 2026-08-13
Quick answer: There are not eleven types of divorce. There are three independent choices: the grounds you file on (fault or no-fault), the dispute state (contested, uncontested, or default), and the process route (litigation, mediation, collaborative, or a simplified procedure). Your divorce is one from each column — “no-fault, uncontested, mediated” is a normal combination. Only the first is a legal filing decision; the second is decided by whether you actually agree on every issue, and the third by how much conflict there is to resolve.
Legal disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal advice. Divorce procedure varies substantially by state and changes regularly. For decisions about your own case, consult a family-law attorney licensed in your state.
Table of Contents
- The three axes, not eleven types
- Fault or no-fault: what you file on
- Does alleging fault actually change the money?
- Contested, uncontested, or default
- Collaborative divorce and the disqualification trap
- Summary dissolution: the route most people never hear about
- Frequently Asked Questions
The three axes, not eleven types
Here is the structure the flat lists obscure.
| Axis | The question it answers | Your options |
|---|---|---|
| Grounds | What do you write on the petition? | No-fault (irreconcilable differences, irretrievable breakdown) or a fault ground where the state still allows one |
| Dispute state | Do you agree on everything? | Uncontested, contested, or default |
| Process route | How do you resolve what you disagree about? | Litigation, mediation, collaborative, arbitration, or a simplified/summary procedure |
Three things follow from seeing it this way.
You control less than the lists imply. Grounds is a genuine choice. Dispute state is not — you are contested if you disagree, no matter what you would prefer. Process route is partly a choice and partly a function of how much conflict exists.
The combinations are the point. A no-fault uncontested mediated divorce is one divorce, not three. So is a no-fault contested litigated one. Asking “which type should I get?” is the wrong question; asking “where am I on each axis, and what can I move?” is the right one.
Dispute state changes over time. “Contested” is a filing posture, not a verdict. Most cases settle before trial. A case can start contested and finish uncontested once temporary orders are in place and financial disclosure has happened — and it can move the other way when one issue surfaces late.
Fault or no-fault: what you file on
Every state now offers some no-fault or separation-based route. The real variation is whether fault grounds still exist alongside it.
Some states have abolished fault grounds entirely. Verified against their own statutes: California, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Washington and Wyoming — and, since October 2023, Maryland, which repealed adultery, desertion, felony conviction, insanity, cruelty and excessively vicious conduct in one Act. That last one matters because nearly every list circulating online predates the change and omits Maryland.
Two cautions about the lists you will find elsewhere.
They are often wrong. Kansas appears on most “pure no-fault” lists, but K.S.A. § 23-2701 still provides “failure to perform a material marital duty or obligation” as a ground, which is plainly conduct-based. Treat any unsourced state list with suspicion, including this one — check your own state, because this area changes.
“No fault grounds” is not the same as “one ground.” Several of these states keep a separate status ground, such as permanent legal incapacity or institutionalized incurable insanity. Those are not fault; nobody is being blamed. But “irreconcilable differences is the only ground” is imprecise.
Plenty of states still offer fault grounds. Virginia lists adultery, felony conviction with more than a year’s imprisonment, and cruelty or willful desertion. South Carolina lists adultery, desertion, physical cruelty and habitual drunkenness. New York and Texas both keep full fault menus alongside their no-fault options.
The practical question is not whether your state offers fault grounds. It is whether using one gets you anything.
Does alleging fault actually change the money?
This is where most guides say “fault may affect alimony and property division” and stop. That sentence is too vague to act on, and the real answer has a clear shape:
Fault is overwhelmingly an alimony doctrine. It is rarely a property doctrine.
| State | Fault and spousal support | Fault and property division |
|---|---|---|
| Virginia | Adultery is a near-total statutory bar, escapable only by clear and convincing evidence of manifest injustice | Expressly a factor |
| South Carolina | Absolute bar — no alimony for a spouse who commits adultery, with no escape hatch | Expressly a factor |
| Florida | No fault grounds exist, yet adultery may still be weighed in setting alimony | Not a listed factor |
| Texas | Marital misconduct including adultery and cruel treatment is a listed maintenance factor | Statute is silent; the rule comes from case law |
| Washington | Expressly excluded | Expressly excluded — “without regard to misconduct” |
| Minnesota | Expressly excluded | Expressly excluded |
| California | Specific acts of misconduct are inadmissible — but documented domestic violence must be considered | Not a factor |
Florida is the clearest illustration of why the two axes are separate: you cannot file on adultery there, and adultery can still move the alimony number. Grounds and financial factors are different questions.
Two points deserve emphasis for anyone weighing whether to plead fault.
The strongest fault rules are mandatory, not discretionary. Virginia’s spousal support statute bars permanent support to a spouse who committed adultery unless the court makes a manifest-injustice finding. South Carolina’s bar is absolute. In those states this is not a judge’s mood — it is a statutory consequence.
“Fault is irrelevant” is false everywhere once abuse is involved. California bars evidence of specific acts of misconduct under Family Code § 2335, which is about as clean an exclusion as exists. But other California statutes require courts to weigh documented domestic violence in setting spousal support, and a criminal conviction for abuse can reduce or eliminate an award. The rule bars moral fault and mandates consideration of violent fault. Washington’s exclusion is the genuinely broad one — its property statute says division happens “without regard to misconduct”.
The upshot for most people: in most states, pleading fault costs money and time, raises the temperature, and changes nothing financially. Where it does change something, it is usually alimony, and usually adultery. It is a question to ask a lawyer in your state before filing, not after.
Contested, uncontested, or default
Uncontested means you agree on every issue, not that you agree on divorcing. That distinction breaks more cases than any other. For parents, “everything” includes legal decision-making, a dated physical schedule, holiday and school-break rotation, exchange logistics, health insurance, and the child support number. Maryland makes the standard explicit by requiring a written settlement agreement resolving alimony, property, and the care, custody, access and support of the children before it will grant a divorce by mutual consent.
If you are close but not there, our custody agreement examples show what a complete schedule needs to cover.
Contested means at least one issue is open. Not war — one open issue. Many contested cases resolve without a trial.
Default means one spouse was served and never responded. This is the one that hurts, and it is almost always written from the filing spouse’s point of view. Two things the receiving spouse needs to know:
- Ignoring the papers does not stop the divorce. In a no-fault state, one spouse’s decision is sufficient. Refusing to participate does not prevent the divorce; it forfeits your say in the parenting schedule, the support number, and the property division.
- A default does not hand the filer everything they want. Relief is capped by what was actually pled. California’s rule is explicit — the relief granted cannot exceed what was demanded in the petition — and its self-help guide confirms the judge looks only at the filed forms and can only divide property that was listed. Property left off the petition does not get divided, which creates its own problem later.
Defaults can sometimes be set aside, but the windows are short and the grounds are specific — mistake, fraud, duress, or service that never produced actual notice. That is a lawyer conversation measured in weeks, not months. And note the waiting period does not shrink: in California a default divorce still cannot be final until six months after service.
Collaborative divorce and the disqualification trap
Collaborative divorce is the route most often described by the people who sell it, so the honest version is worth stating plainly.
Each spouse hires their own attorney. Everyone signs a participation agreement committing to settle without going to court, often adding neutral professionals — a financial specialist, a child specialist. Negotiation happens in structured four-way meetings. That much every page tells you.
Here is the part that matters. Under the Uniform Collaborative Law Act, if the process breaks down, your collaborative lawyer is disqualified from appearing before a court in the matter — and so is every other lawyer at that firm. You start over with new counsel, and you pay for the learning curve twice. The uniform act has been enacted in 28 US jurisdictions (27 states and the District of Columbia) as of August 2026, five of them by court rule; elsewhere the same result comes from the participation agreement itself.
That is not a flaw in the design. It is the design. The commitment device only works because leaving is expensive — the act’s own drafters describe the risk in exactly those terms and require the lawyer to warn you about it before you sign.
So the calculus is straightforward. Collaborative is strong when both spouses genuinely want a settlement and the difficulty is complexity rather than hostility. It is a poor bet when one spouse is likely to walk, because then you pay for two processes. The act also directs lawyers to screen for a history of a coercive or violent relationship before beginning and to keep reassessing throughout — deliberately broader language than “domestic violence,” chosen to capture coercive control rather than only physical assault.
If you are weighing this against the alternatives, our comparison of mediation and arbitration covers how those two differ, and custody mediation explains what mediation actually looks like for parents.
Summary dissolution: the route most people never hear about
Several states offer a genuinely fast, cheap procedure for simple cases. Almost nobody learns it exists, because the pages that rank are written by people who bill by the hour.
California’s summary dissolution is the clearest example. It requires a short marriage, no children of the relationship, no real estate beyond a narrow lease exception, and property and debt under set ceilings.
The dollar figures are the trap. The statute still reads $4,000 and $25,000 — but those are 1980s and 1990s base amounts that the statute itself requires to be re-indexed to inflation every odd-numbered year. Quoting them would understate the real limits by more than double. The operative numbers, published by the Judicial Council on form FL-800 (rev. April 28, 2025) and current for 2026, are:
- Community property (excluding cars): less than $57,000
- Each spouse’s separate property (excluding cars): not more than $57,000
- Community debts (excluding car loans): no more than $7,000
Those re-index again on January 1, 2027, so check the current form rather than any article — including this one.
Florida’s simplified dissolution works differently: no dollar caps at all, but both spouses must agree, neither may seek alimony, and there can be no minor or dependent children.
For parents, the verdict is blunt: you almost certainly do not qualify. Every simplified route surveyed excludes couples with minor children, and pregnancy disqualifies too. That is not an oversight — the whole point of these procedures is to skip the judicial scrutiny that child-related terms require. If you have kids, your realistic best case is an uncontested divorce with a complete written parenting plan, which is faster and cheaper than a contested one but is not a summary procedure.
One last framing worth carrying into any of these routes: cost tracks conflict, not the label you pick. Our breakdown of what a divorce actually costs shows how sharply the numbers move with the number of unresolved issues — and if you have not filed yet, how separation works covers the decisions that come first.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main types of divorce?
They are not really types. There are three independent choices: the grounds you file on (fault or no-fault), whether the case is uncontested, contested, or a default, and the process route you use to resolve disagreements — litigation, mediation, collaborative practice, or a simplified procedure. Every divorce is one from each of those three.
What is the difference between a no-fault and an uncontested divorce?
They answer different questions. No-fault describes the legal grounds — you are not alleging wrongdoing. Uncontested describes agreement — you and your spouse have settled every issue. A divorce can be no-fault and bitterly contested at the same time, and that combination is very common.
Can you get a divorce if your spouse doesn’t agree?
Yes. In a no-fault state one spouse’s decision is enough, and refusing to participate does not stop the case. Ignoring the papers only forfeits your input into custody, support, and property, since the court will proceed on what the filing spouse submitted.
Does cheating affect a divorce settlement?
Sometimes, and it depends heavily on the state and on which remedy you mean. Adultery is a near-total bar to alimony in Virginia and an absolute bar in South Carolina, and it can be weighed in Florida and Texas. Washington and Minnesota exclude misconduct from both alimony and property division entirely. In most states it affects support far more often than property.
Can a default divorce judgment be overturned?
Sometimes, but the windows are short and the grounds are narrow — typically mistake, fraud, duress, or service that never gave actual notice. If you have been defaulted and want to challenge it, treat it as urgent; some deadlines run six months from entry of the judgment.
Can you get a summary dissolution if you have children?
No. Every simplified or summary procedure surveyed excludes couples with minor children, and pregnancy disqualifies as well. Parents who agree on everything should aim for an uncontested divorce with a full written parenting plan instead.
Is collaborative divorce a good idea?
It works well when both spouses genuinely want to settle and the difficulty is complexity rather than hostility. The risk is the disqualification rule: if the process fails, both lawyers and their firms are barred from representing you in court, so you hire new counsel and pay twice. It is a poor fit where one spouse may walk away, or where there is coercive control.
Reviewed by Nora Whitman, Managing Editor. Our research and review process explains how we source and verify legal content.
