Procedures

• While each state may have different procedural requirements, most state courts will require one party in the divorce to file a motion for bifurcation. The divorcing parties would then appear at a court hearing where the judge decides whether to order a bifurcation in the case. In most situations, the court will grant the bifurcation as long as the parties follow certain procedures and agree to comply with the requirements.
  
  

Remarriage

• The most common reason why a party would request a bifurcation is because he wishes to remarry, but his current divorce has not been settled yet. In this situation, a bifurcation could result in an earlier termination of the couple's marital status, allowing the parties to remarry, while the court reserves the other issues to be decided at a later date.
  
  

Taxes

• A party in the divorce might also want a bifurcation in order to change her marital status for tax filing purposes. As long as the marital status terminates before the end of the current year, the parties will be considered single for tax purposes for that entire year.
  
  

Reserved Legal Issues

• A divorcing couple may ask for a bifurcation if they are still negotiating their final agreement about child custody or visitation, spousal support or property division issues, but wish to be legally single at an earlier date. In a contentious divorce, property and support issues may take a long time to negotiate or even go through a trial.
  
  

Trial Issues

• The family court may also bifurcate a divorce case if there are one or more outstanding issues that will not be decided without a trial. Property division can be particularly time-consuming---for example, if the court must oversee a trial about whether to characterize an asset as community property or separate property.
  
  

Tips

• Bifurcated divorce is only available in some states, so an interested party should find out whether it is available in his state. Someone considering bifurcation should consult with a family law or divorce attorney in her state to learn about her legal options and consider the consequences.