Getting a Divorce in Kentucky? Divorce Law Cheat Sheet for the State of Kentucky
1. What are the residency requirements for filing for divorce in Kentucky?
In Kentucky, you or your spouse must have been a resident for at least 180 days before filing. The same time period applies if you were stationed in the state as a member of the armed services.
2. Does Kentucky have a waiting period?
If you and your spouse have minor children together, then the court will not hear any testimony other than on temporary motions until at least 60 days after you have filed. No divorce decree will be entered until you and your spouse have lived apart for at least 60 days. (Living under the same roof without having sex counts as living apart.)
3. Does the state have grounds for divorce?
If you and your spouse have stated that your marriage is irretrievably broken, or one of you states this and the other doesn’t deny it, then the court will decide whether or not your marriage is, in fact, irretrievably broken, which means there is no hope of reconciliation. The court may order a conciliation conference to help determine this.
If one of you protests that your marriage is not irretrievably broken, the court may rule it is anyway, or the court may postpone the hearing for 30 to 60 days and suggest you seek counseling before it makes a decision.
4. How does Kentucky determine the division of property?
You and your spouse are encouraged to come up with a settlement on your own and present it to the court. If you can’t agree, the court will divide your property for you.
The court will divvy your marital property (without regard to any marital misconduct on the part of you or your spouse) in as fair a way as possible, taking into account:
- You and your spouse’s contributions to the acquisition of your martial property, including contributions as a homemaker.
- The value of the property set apart to each of you.
- How long you were married.
- You and your spouse’s economic circumstances after the division of property becomes effective, including whether it would be best to give the family home or the right to live there to whichever of you has custody of your children.
In Kentucky, marital property means all property acquired by you or your spouse after you were married (regardless of whose name is on the title) except:
- Property you acquired by gift or inheritance during your marriage, as well as any income generated by that property, unless your spouse did something significant to increase the value of or generate income from that property.
- The increase in value of property you acquired before you were married, to the extent that the increase in value didn’t result from efforts on the part of you or your spouse while you were married.
- Property you received in exchange for property you acquired before you were married or property you received via gift or inheritance.
- Property you or your spouse acquired after a decree of legal separation.
- Property you and your spouse agree to exclude from consideration.
5. Does Kentucky require mediation before a divorce is granted?
Mediation is not standard, but it may be ordered by the court at any time during the proceedings.
6. How does the state determine child custody?
Legal custody and physical custody are two different things. Legal custody outlines how involved each parent is in the major decisions of a child’s life — where a child goes to school, what faith he or she is raised in and other biggies.
Physical custody addresses where a child will live and with whom. Visitation is then negotiated based your physical custody arrangement. The court will determine custody based on what is in the best interest of your child. It will give equal consideration to each parent as well as to any de facto custodian.
(A de facto custodian is one who has been the primary caregiver and financial supporter of a child who has lived with that person for six months or more if the child is younger than 3, or for a year or more if the child is 3 or older or has been placed by the Department for Community Based Services.)
The court will consider these factors when determining custody:
- The wishes of you and your spouse, as well as any de facto custodian.
- Your child’s wishes.
- Your child’s interaction and relationship with you and your spouse, his or her siblings and any other person significant in your child’s life.
- Your child’s adjustment to home, school and community.
- The mental and physical health of everyone involved.
- Any evidence of domestic violence.
- The extent to which your child has been cared for, nurtured and supported by any de facto custodian.
- The intent of you or your spouse in placing your child with a de facto custodian.
- The circumstances under which your child was placed or allowed to remain in the custody of a de facto custodian, including whether the parent now seeking custody was previously prevented from doing so as a result of domestic violence, or whether your child was placed with a de facto custodian to allow the parent now seeking custody to look for a job, to work or to attend school.
The court will not consider the conduct of any proposed custodian that doesn’t affect his or her relationship to your child. If domestic violence is alleged, the court will determine the extent to which it has affected your child and his or her relationship to you and your spouse. If you had to leave your home because of the threat of physical harm, that will not be held against you in a custody case, either.
The court may interview your child to determine his or her wishes for custody, as well as seek the input of other professionals.
7. How does the state calculate child support?
In establishing child support, the court assumes that applying the state guidelines will result in the appropriate amount. The guidelines allocate support in proportion to your share of you and your spouse’s combined monthly adjusted parental gross income.
The court will take into account the following factors to determine whether this standard amount is fair:
- Your child’s extraordinary medical or dental needs.
- Your child’s extraordinary educational, job training or special needs.
- You or your spouse’s extraordinary needs, such as medical expenses.
- Your child’s independent financial resources, if any.
- Any combined monthly adjusted parental gross income in excess of the Kentucky.
- Child support guidelines.
- An agreement between you and your spouse for child support different than what the Kentucky child support guidelines specify (you are not permitted to set up a different amount if your child is receiving public assistance).
- Any other extraordinary factors that the court decides are relevant.
Work-related child-care costs, uninsured medical expenses in excess of $100 per year and health care insurance coverage are added to the support.
Support may differ in the case of split custody, in which you and your spouse each is the residential custodian for one or more children for whom you both share a joint legal responsibility. In this case, two separate child support obligation worksheets are prepared, one for each household, using the number of children from your relationship in each separate household, rather than the total number of children from your relationship. The nonresidential custodian with the greater monthly obligation amount pays the difference to the other parent.
8. How does the state determine and calculate alimony?
Alimony, also known as maintenance, is not a given in a divorce case. If you request it, the court will look at whether you:
- Do not have sufficient property, including property awarded to you in your divorce, to meet your reasonable needs.
- Are unable to support yourself through appropriate employment or are caring for a child whose circumstances make it inappropriate to require you to seek work outside the home.
If the court decides to award alimony, it will look at these factors to determine how much and for how long:
- Your financial resources, including what property you were awarded in your divorce, your ability to meet your needs independently and whether child support includes a sum for you as custodian.
- How long it would take you to get the education or training necessary to find appropriate employment.
- Your standard of living while you were married.
- Your age and physical and emotional condition.
- The ability of your spouse to meet his or her needs while paying alimony.
9. Is there a waiting period before remarriage in Kentucky?
No, you are free to remarry after the court delivers the final judgment ending your marriage.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
The Kentucky state statutes are online, here.
You can find child support worksheets and tables from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, here.
