Is There an Advantage to Being the First to File for Divorce?

In my opinion, there is really no advantage to filing a divorce case first as opposed to having the other party file first. It does not have a large impact on the case. The only thing it really effects is the order that you go in if you end up having a hearing in the case.

The party who files the case is referred to as the petitioner. The petitioner always goes first in the hearing. The other party is referred to as the respondent. The respondent goes second. Really, the only impact who files first has is the order you go in in a hearing.

Personally, I feel like being the respondent is actually beneficial because you have the opportunity to respond to the other party’s evidence and arguments in a way that you might not if you were the petitioner. In general, I do not think there is any significant advantage to being the person who files the divorce as opposed to the responding party.