For a divorce without minor children, New Hampshire's current checklist says the starting packet includes the Personal Data Sheet plus either a Joint Petition for Divorce or an Individual Petition for Divorce, depending on whether both spouses are filing together.
The reason this matters in a New Hampshire divorce is practical: a small mistake about what forms do i need to start a divorce in new hampshire can create confusion in the next document or court step. The goal is not to make you learn legal vocabulary. The goal is to make sure you know exactly what you are doing before you click, sign, notarize, pay, or file.
Now let’s make that easier to understand
For the cooperative path, the two forms you will hear about most are the Joint Petition for Divorce and the Personal Data Sheet. Those start the case. Financial Affidavits and the Final Decree are later-stage forms.
Example: You download the Joint Petition, Personal Data Sheet, Financial Affidavit, Final Decree, and Vital Statistics form all at once. Only the first two are the normal starting packet in the simple joint no-minor-children path. The others matter later.
Do it in this order
- 1Choose joint or individual filing.
Step 1 of “What Forms Do I Need to Start a Divorce in New Hampshire?”: If you are unsure, verify the fact before signing or submitting anything.
- 2Download the current petition that matches that choice.
Step 2 of “What Forms Do I Need to Start a Divorce in New Hampshire?”: Finish this small task before opening another form or browser tab.
- 3Download the current Personal Data Sheet.
Step 3 of “What Forms Do I Need to Start a Divorce in New Hampshire?”: Write down the result so you do not have to remember it later.
- 4Complete both with consistent names and addresses.
Step 4 of “What Forms Do I Need to Start a Divorce in New Hampshire?”: Use the current official document here, not an old screenshot.
- 5Handle required signatures/notarization.
Step 5 of “What Forms Do I Need to Start a Divorce in New Hampshire?”: Save proof of what you did or the information you confirmed.
- 6File the starting packet with the correct Family Division.
Step 6 of “What Forms Do I Need to Start a Divorce in New Hampshire?”: If this fact changes later, update your notes before preparing the next filing.
What usually causes trouble here
- Trying to file only the petition and forgetting the Personal Data Sheet.
- Filing final-stage forms before you have the information needed for them.
- Downloading child-related forms for a no-minor-children case.
- Using an old form from a third-party website.
The next part this connects to
If you are filing jointly, the next useful article is how to fill out NHJB-2058-F. If you want to understand the second starting form first, use the Personal Data Sheet walkthrough.
Official source for this topic: NH Judicial Branch divorce-without-minor-children checklist ↗How you know this question is handled
For this article—“What Forms Do I Need to Start a Divorce in New Hampshire?”—you are ready to move on when you can explain the answer in your own words, you have actually choose joint or individual filing, and you know how you will file the starting packet with the correct Family Division. If one of those pieces is still a guess, verify it before you file.
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If “What Forms Do I Need to Start a Divorce in New Hampshire?” is the question that brought you here, you do not need to solve the other 199 questions today. Start the free case check. It asks about the few facts that determine whether your divorce fits the simple joint no-minor-children workflow, then keeps the rest of the process in order for you.
Start my free case check →General information: This page about “What Forms Do I Need to Start a Divorce in New Hampshire?” explains general New Hampshire divorce procedure. FreeDivorceNH.com is a self-help technology and document-assistance service, not a law firm, and does not tell you what legal result you personally should choose. Court forms, fees, electronic systems, and procedures can change, so confirm changeable details with the official court source linked above.