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Each state sets its own minimum residency before its courts will take a divorce. California requires that one spouse has lived in the state for the last six months and in the filing county for the last three. Other states use different periods, and a few have special rules for military families stationed there.

Many states then impose a waiting period between filing or service and the day a judgment can be entered, even for a case where both spouses agree on everything. California's self-help materials tell petitioners they must still meet the waiting period before the divorce is final. Ask early what the period is in your state, because it sets the earliest realistic end date and it affects decisions about health insurance and filing status.

The Internal Revenue Service lists the community property states as Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. In those states, income earned and most property acquired during the marriage is treated as belonging to both spouses equally, whatever name it is held in.

Everywhere else, courts divide marital property equitably. Equitable does not mean equal. Statutes direct judges to weigh things like the length of the marriage, each spouse's contribution including unpaid work at home, earning capacity and who will have the children most of the time. The practical consequence is that outcomes in equitable distribution states are less predictable, and settlement negotiations are correspondingly more open.

Both systems generally treat property owned before the marriage, and most gifts and inheritances, as separate, but separate property can lose that character if it is mixed with marital funds.

The most expensive mistakes are financial rather than emotional. Retirement plans usually cannot be divided by the divorce judgment alone; a separate order directed to the plan administrator is needed, and if nobody drafts it the division never happens. The same is true for military and federal pensions, which have their own rules.

The marital home causes its own trouble. Taking a spouse off the deed does not take them off the mortgage, and the lender is not bound by a divorce judgment. Refinancing or selling is usually the only clean answer.

Debt follows the contract, not the decree. A judgment saying one spouse pays a joint card protects you against that spouse, not against the card issuer. And in community property states, the tax treatment of income during the year of separation can turn on state law, which is exactly why the IRS publishes guidance for those nine states.

A marital settlement agreement is a contract that becomes a court order, and it is far harder to undo than to get right. Read what it says about waiver: once spousal support is waived, most states will not let a court revisit it later, however circumstances change.

Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements are enforced in every state, but on conditions. Courts look at whether both sides disclosed their finances honestly, whether each had a real chance to get independent advice, and whether the terms were unconscionable. If you are divorcing with an agreement in place, the first job is to read it against your state's enforceability rules, not to assume it decides everything.