It’s very likely that you’ll have to go to court several times during this process. Most hearings are scheduling hearings and the issues will be discussed and decided at later dates. Often the settlement conferences and mediations will also take place in the courthouse but are not formal court proceedings the same way as you may see on TV or in the movies, with a judge and witness stand. If yours is a simple divorce where you and your spouse agree on everything and sign the final documents, you can often send the final decree and documents into the judge and as long as the judge agrees that the final settlement is fundamentally fair, neither of you will have to go to court, but in nearly every other instance, there will be at least one appearance in a courtroom and probably several other meetings or conferences needed before your divorce will be final.
