How to Divorce in Kentucky

Divide your property and debts. In order to get divorced, you and your spouse must divide all of your property. If you agree how to divide your property and debts, then you and your spouse can complete and file the Marital Settlement Agreement. If you and your spouse can’t agree how to divide your property, you each will have to provide the court with evidence about your property and debts. This includes everything you own, how much it is worth, what you owe to whom and how much, and how you propose to divide this property and debt. Property and debts are valued as of the date of the spouses’ separation. The court will make a decision after hearing evidence from both of you. The court usually divides property equally between the spouses, but the court can award more than 50% of the property to one party or the other for a good reason. Examples of the proof that you must provide include the following:

• Address of any real estate and its value
• Mortgage statement showing the balance of the loan as of the date of separation
• Bank account statements
• Retirement account statements
• Listing of any valuable personal property and its value
• Statements showing the balances of any debts as of the date of separation

Decide whether maintenance is needed. In some divorces, one spouse may be ordered to pay the other maintenance. These are cash payments that may be temporary or permanent. Maintenance is often ordered after a long marriage in which one spouse stayed at home while the other worked. There also might be a maintenance order if one spouse has a significantly higher income than the other. If you can reach an agreement on maintenance and all other issues, then you and your spouse can complete and file the Marital Settlement Agreement. Otherwise, you will have to present evidence about whether a maintenance order is appropriate or not, such as the following:

• Proof of both spouses’ income through paycheck stubs or income tax returns
• Testimony about each spouses’ work history and income throughout the marriage

Determine the best custody arrangement for your children. Most of the time, children live primarily with one parent and visit with the other parent during scheduled times. Some parents, however, are able to share custody of their children. If you can reach an agreement on custody and all other issues, then you and your spouse can complete and file the Marital Settlement Agreement. When parents can’t agree on custody, the court will make a custody decision based on the best interests of the child The factors that relate to the best interest of the child standard include the following:

• Wishes of the parents
• Wishes of the children
• The interaction of the children with their parents, siblings, and any other persons involved
• The children’s adjustment to home, school, and community
• The mental and physical health of all parties involved
• Any evidence or records of domestic violence

Set up a visitation schedule. Some counties in Kentucky have written visitation standards that give guidance to parents about visitation schedules, but others do not. These visitation standards can be helpful when parents can’t agree on a visitation schedule. The standards typically allow the noncustodial parent to visit with their children every other weekend and for one night during the week. Parents usually split holidays with their children. In some cases, a parent may receive only limited or supervised visitation, if the court determines that regular visitation would be harmful to the children. If you can reach an agreement on visitation and all other issues, then you and your spouse can complete and file the Marital Settlement Agreement. The court will either approve your agreement, or, if there is no agreement, the court will order a visitation schedule for the parties to follow.

Calculate a child support order. Kentucky has statewide child support guidelines that the courts follow in calculating a parent’s child support obligation. These guidelines calculate child support based on each parent’s income, child care expenses, and other factors. If a parent is unemployed, his or her income is calculated as if he or she worked a full-time, minimum wage job. As part of a child support order, one or both parents also may be ordered to provide health insurance for their children.

Wait 60 days. In order to finalize your divorce in Kentucky, you and your spouse must be separated for a minimum of 60 days. This waiting period is mandatory in all Kentucky divorces. Once you have waited 60 days, your divorce can become final.

Attend a divorce education course if required. If you and your spouse have children together, the court may require you both to attend a divorce education course, such as “Families in Transition.” Your county clerk’s office can tell you if the court in your county has this requirement. You usually must pay a fee to take this class, but the fee often is based on your income.

Obtain and complete the forms required to finalize your divorce if you and your spouse have an agreement. There are a number of forms that you and your spouse can complete together and file with the court if you have reached an agreement on all matters related to your divorce. These documents tell the court about your agreement and ask the court to schedule your case for a final hearing after 60 days have passed.

• Form #2 Entry of Appearance and Waiver
• Form #3A Marital Settlement Agreement
• AOC 238.3 Acknowledgement of Preliminary/Final Disclosure Statement
• Form #4 Deposition of Petitioner
• Form #5A Finding of Fact and Decree of Dissolution of Marriage
• Form #9 Motion for Final Decree

Obtain and complete the forms required to ask for a default judgement, if needed. When your spouse has been served with notice of the divorce, but does not file a response, you can finalize your divorce by asking for a default judgment. In this case, you have not been able to reach an agreement with your spouse and he or she simply doesn’t respond to the divorce filing.

• Form #6 Motion for Default Judgment
• Form #6 Decree of Dissolution of Marriage
• Form #4 Deposition of Petitioner

Obtain and complete the form required to finalize your divorce when you have no agreement with your spouse. This is necessary when your spouse has been served with the notice of the divorce and has responded to the divorce, but you cannot reach an agreement with him or her. You will have to ask the court to schedule a final divorce hearing by filing Form #10 Notice-Motion-Order to Schedule Final Hearing.

Proceed to a final divorce hearing. If you and your spouse have agreed on all matters and have filed the Marital Settlement Agreement, then the judge will ask questions about your agreement during the hearing. If everything is in order, the court will approve your agreement. If you and your spouse can’t reach an agreement on some or all issues in your divorce, the judge will hear evidence from both of you about any issues you can’t agree on at the final divorce hearing. You are responsible for presenting evidence to the court about any such issues. After your hearing, the judge will make a decision. You can prepare for the hearing by taking the following steps:

• Make a list of all the legal issues that have to be addressed in your divorce.
• Write down what issues you and your spouse have agreed upon, if any.
• For the issues that you can’t agree on, write down what you want the judge to do about that issue.
• Be ready to back up your requests with written documentation, if needed. For instance, if you want your spouse to pay a certain debt, you’ll have to present a monthly statement from the date of your separation showing that you and your spouse owe the debt and how much is owed.
• Have a good explanation for everything that you are asking the judge to do. For example, if you want your spouse to pay a certain debt, you have to explain why