Every court proceeding starts with the filing of a Petition or a Complaint.

A divorce or separation proceeding is initiated with the filing of a “Petition of Dissolution of Marriage” with the court. ORS 107.085 provides the technical requirements which must be met in the Petition and the information the Petitioner must initially provide the court. The Petitioner must provide the court information about children born of the marriage, if there are other divorce proceedings involving the parties in Oregon or in any other state, whether there is a pending child support order, and information about both parties, such as full name, former names, addresses, birthdays, place and date of the marriage, and social security number.

ORS 107.086 governs venue. Venue means the location within a jurisdiction where a party can file a lawsuit. Venue refers to the specific county where the case can be filed. In Oregon, the Petitioner can file the divorce in the county where the petitioner lives or where the spouse/respondent lives.

ORS 107.087 directs the Petitioner to serve a copy of the Petition for Dissolution on the Administrator of the Division of Child Support of the Department of Justice when child support rights have been assigned to the state.

ORS 107.088 directs the court clerk to provide certain information to the parties of a divorce. Those documents include a notice of continued health care coverage. The Petitioner must provide proof of service to the court.

Once the Petition for Dissolution is filed, a statutory Restraining Order goes into effect on the Petitioner. The Restraining Order prevents the parties from hiding, destroying or secreting property from the other spouse. It also prohibits the parties from cancelling insurance or changing beneficiaries or coverage of minor children. In other words, the Restraining Order prevents both parties from spending the assets of the parties unless in the regular course of business.