A Rhode Island divorce hearing can end with a favorable decision while the marriage is still legally in place. The remaining paperwork is not just a copy of what you already filed: you generally need a Decision Pending Entry of Final Judgment and, later, a Final Judgment.
If you are preparing an agreed divorce, plan for these finishing steps before the hearing. If your hearing has already happened, start by finding out which documents the court has actually entered. A completed form on your computer, a filing receipt and an entered judgment are different things.
First, identify the document you have
Read the title at the top of your paperwork, not just the sentence saying a divorce was granted.
- Complaint for divorce: This is the request that opened the case. It is not proof that the marriage has ended.
- Decision Pending Entry of Final Judgment: This records the court’s findings and orders following its decision. Rhode Island’s standard form, FC-45, expressly warns that the parties remain married until the court enters a Final Judgment.
- Final Judgment: This is the separate finishing document. On standard form FC-44, the court dissolves the marriage after the applicable requirements are satisfied. A blank or proposed copy is not an entered judgment.
Keep the intermediate decision even after the divorce becomes final. It contains findings and orders that the final form refers back to. Store both documents together rather than replacing one with the other.
Track the filing deadline and the earliest final-judgment date
The Family Court’s Guide and File instructions say to file the Decision Pending Entry of Final Judgment within 30 days of the decision date. They direct you to hold the standard Final Judgment until three months after the decision date, then file it separately.
For the ordinary three-month route, the clock starts with the court’s decision, not the day you started the case or completed an online questionnaire. Record the actual decision date from your case. Do not casually substitute “90 days” for three calendar months.
Waiting is only one part of finishing. The passage of three months does not automatically create or enter a judgment. Before the hearing, decide who will prepare and submit each document. If an attorney is handling it, ask when you should expect copies of the entered documents. If you are representing yourself, make a reminder for preparation and another to check what happened after submission.
A different route applies to certain three-year-separation cases
Do not select the shorter waiting period simply because you and your spouse have lived apart. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-5-3, the three-year separation ground must be alleged and found by the court. That route generally requires 20 days after entry of the Decision Pending Entry of Final Judgment, with appeal-related qualifications.
The court publishes specifically labeled forms for that route: FC-96, Decision Pending Entry, Living Separate and Apart, and FC-62, Final Judgment, Living Separate and Apart. Match the form to the court’s actual decision. If you are unsure which ground was granted, resolve that before calculating your filing date.
Gather the information before completing the forms
Build a small finishing folder with the following:
- The case number, county, and party names exactly as they appear in the case.
- The decision date and the judicial officer’s name.
- The court’s findings and orders, including any approved settlement terms you must accurately reflect.
- A copy of the entered Decision Pending Entry, once available.
- Information about any pending motions or appeal, rather than an assumption that nothing remains open.
- The opposing attorney’s or self-represented spouse’s current service information.
The forms distinguish the plaintiff’s complaint from the defendant’s counterclaim and an answered case from an unanswered one. Copying names and dates is straightforward; deciding what the court ordered is not a guessing exercise. If your notes, agreement and proposed document do not match, ask your attorney how to resolve the difference. A clerk can help you locate records and explain filing procedure, but cannot decide disputed legal wording for you.
Check the pages after the main order
FC-44 includes a Certificate of No Pending Motions. Do not sign it merely because the three-month period has passed. If a motion remains unresolved, get advice about the proper next step rather than certifying something that is not true.
The forms also include a Certificate of Service, with options for electronic service or mailing/hand-delivery. The no-service option on the standard forms is specifically tied to an unanswered case in which the opposing party did not appear. A spouse’s absence from the most recent hearing is not, by itself, the wording of that exception.
Keep the judicial officer’s approval area separate from the portions you complete. Check continuation pages, signatures and service details before submitting. Making a personal checklist is useful; adding facts or approvals that have not occurred is not.
Choose a filing method, then verify the result
The court’s Guide and File interview produces the two finishing forms for separate filing. Its instructions list mailing to the appropriate Family Court clerk, emailing the virtual clerk’s office, or electronic filing as submission options. Use the court page for current addresses and instructions, and confirm the route for your existing case before sending documents.
After submission, keep the receipt or acknowledgment. Then check whether the document was accepted, signed and entered. If it was returned for correction, read the stated reason and correct that issue rather than repeatedly submitting the same file.
Ask the clerk for the entered Final Judgment and how to obtain a certified copy if you need one. A practical question is: “Has the Final Judgment been entered in this case, and what is its entry date?” This is more precise than asking whether the hearing is finished.
If the hearing was months ago and you never finished
Locate the case record before starting another divorce case or assuming the marriage ended. Under § 15-5-23, the ordinary procedure allows final entry during the 180 days following the three-month period. After that, entry requires a motion in open court or written consent of the attorneys or parties. Confirm the applicable filing window with the clerk or your attorney instead of calculating a late-entry deadline from memory.
The separate-and-apart route has its own timing provisions. An appeal, pending motion, disagreement over the proposed order or long delay deserves case-specific legal help. Do not backdate a form or sign a certificate that does not fit your case.
Rhode Island law permits remarriage after entry of the final divorce judgment. Confirm entry before relying on a hearing date or waiting-period calculation for remarriage plans.
Your next step
Make a one-page record with four blanks: decision date; Decision Pending Entry filed/entered; Final Judgment eligible for submission; Final Judgment entered. Add who is responsible for each unfinished step. That turns “I think the divorce is done” into a document check you can actually complete.
If you are still preparing your initial papers, GetDivorcePapers offers online document preparation through a guided questionnaire. Ask customer support which documents are included for your situation, especially if your hearing has already occurred. Document preparation does not itself file or serve the papers, provide legal advice, or obtain the court’s judgment.
