Divorce is the dissolving of a marriage so that both parties are returned to the status of single persons. In order for a divorce to be finalized, the court must grant a judgment of dissolution of marriage. Before this can happen, both parties must exchange property and financial disclosure statements and substantiating records. If you and your spouse can come to agreement on such issues as child custody, child support, spousal support and property division, the divorce is considered to be uncontested and you have the opportunity to arrive at an out-of-court settlement. If you cannot come to an agreement on one or more of these points, you will need to submit the case to be tried by a judge in order to finalize the dissolution.