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Alabama
Divorce Forms |
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a Family Lawyer? Click here
You've
arrived at this page because you're looking for
some answers about the divorce process in Alabama,
right? Take a deep breath. If nothing else, we'll
give you some answers and ease your anxiety. If
you're having a tough time coping, perhaps you
should view
this page first.
Child Support
Child support, of all the divorce topics, tends to elevate blood pressure the most among the parties in Alabama. Paradoxically, determining child support in Alabama is one of the few things about splitting up that is cut and dried. Like many states, Alabama uses a formula, where the parties plug in certain financial details and the calculator determines what and how it gets paid. If you use this child support calculator, be sure to bookmark this page first. What's it going to be ballpark, you ask? For one child- 20%, 2 kids- 25%, 3 kids 30%, 4 kids 35%, 5 kids 40%, and 6 or more kids 45%. These amounts are computed using after-tax income
Here's an idea about what information goes into determining child support:
- The combined incomes of both parents
- Each parent's individual income as a percentage of the combined gross income
- The number of children under age 19
- Any pre-existing child support or alimony obligation 19
- Any work-related child care obligations
- Health Insurance premiums and which parent's
obligation they are.
There are two ways in which child support payments
are allowed. An Income Withholding Order (IWO) (more
common) is where the child support amount gets
deducted from the non-custodial parent's paycheck,
sent directly to the court by the employer, and
then distributed to the payee.
The second method of passing Alabama child
support from one to the other is through conventional
means e.g. personal checks, money orders, etc.
Cash is trash with this method (you have to maintain
receipts, and isn't life difficult enough?).
Take it from those that have come before you.
You want the money to be sent or arrive
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In order to have an income order, a petition must
be made to the court. Once a judge rules,
the amount is considered a temporary amount until
the final disposition of your case.
If you or your spouse have not filed yet, and you anticipate it might be weeks or months before that filing takes place, try to agree on a child support amount based on the schedule mentioned above. Once an Income Order is provided by the court, it may include a back-dated liability from the time of separation.
Do you want to reduce or suspend child support payments during the time your child is away from
the primary residence e.g. summer vacations? Get specific agreements on what activities the child will participate in and have the final order include them in detail and who pays what. Have the language include any future activities and who pays what amounts.
What about a child support modification down
the road? Alabama divorce laws require that one's
financial conditions must have changed enough
that those changes would cause an adjustment (up
or down) of at least 10% of what is being paid
now. What if one of you gets remarried and has
another family? Alabama courts consider the original
family and the parents' financial responsibility
to them first while balancing the needs of all,
meaning more money would go to the original family.
Leave nothing to chance, or disagreement.
Are you just starting out with divorce, and
need a blueprint, or guidance on what to do and
NOT do? Things your attorney may not tell you?
Allow a Killer Divorce Attorney and a top Marriage Psychologist show
you exact steps how to become
happily divorced.
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Child
Support- Divorcing
couples must stay within the guidelines set forth
by Alabama statute. Child support formulas
take into account each party's income, the age
of the children and the custody arrangement as
well as various other expenditures both parties
may be making on behalf of the children.
In the best of all worlds,
you and your divorcing spouse will be given the
opportunity to fashion a settlement agreement,
which will encompass all aspects of settling your
marital issues. If you decide to create your own
settlement, begin by 1. drafting the agreement
yourselves or enlist the help of an attorney.
2. Both parties should sign and date the document.
3. Head to the family court where the proceedings
were initiated. Give an original agreement (no
copies) to the clerk of the court and request
that the agreement be filed with your court documents.
4. Wait for the court to review your settlement
agreement. If the agreement passes muster, (it
covers all of the important terms of a divorce
and does not violate any contract law), the court
will include the agreement in the final disposition,
and it will become binding to both parties. |

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Child
Custody
Chances are you and your not so loving
spouse have discussed who gets the kids, and maybe
even discussed (argued about?) sole custody. As
in the case of child support, Alabama child custody
gets determined with 'the best interests of the
child'; considered first.
Some of the factors the court will look at:
- The past and present ability of the parents to cooperate with each other and make decisions jointly.
- The degree of agreement or lack thereof on joint custody issues.
- Any history of or potential for child abuse, spousal abuse or kidnapping.
- The ability of each parent to encourage a loving and nurturing relationship with the other parent.
- Any history of or potential for child abuse, spousal abuse or kidnapping.
Mom gets the child custody award far more frequently than Dad does. This is due partly to out of touch
courts not understanding men's capabilities, and partly the presumption that children need the Mothers in the early years, and are inherently better at parenting. In most cases, the Mother must be proven unfit before a court will rule in favor of primary custody for Dad.
Furthermore, Alabama divorce laws mandate the following with regard to Joint Custody— "It is the policy of this state to assure that minor children have frequent and continuing contact with parents who have shown the |
ability to act in the best interest of their children
and to encourage parents to share in the rights and responsibilities of rearing their children after the parents have separated or dissolved their marriage. Joint custody does not necessarily mean equal physical custody." This can be interpreted as a policy to keep both parents in their children's lives unless there is evidence that one or both parents pose a risk to the child.
Be aware of what types of conduct can jeopardize getting the custody order you want from the court.
Moving out of the home your children reside in is considered "abandonment" and will impair one's chances. Some more common obstacles to custody can include: domestic violence with police reports, not paying an adequate amount of support to the custodian, the use of illegal drugs or controlled substances, an inconsistent employment record, and much more. The point is that if your marriage was tumultuous, and/or if
you left the family home, or your behavior has been such that a court might be concerned, your chances of primary custody are slim. Courts do award children to Fathers more in recent years, but the majority of the rulings continue to favor the Mothers.
Co-parenting equally, where the child spends 1/2 the month with each parent (or alternates weeks) is becoming more common, but carries with it its own set of challenges. If you are considering this, it pays to consult with a child psychologist or another professional in this area. Children's preferences as to where they want to live are considered by the court (in many cases) once they reach their teenage years.
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Custody determines
how the parties will specifically parent the children,
both legally and physically.
Joint Custody- Alabama courts prefer
this arrangement, where both parents share joint
legal and joint physical custody of the children
and equal responsibilities regarding all matters.
Joint Physical Custody- This does
not mean that the children must spend exactly
the same amount of time with each parent. It does
mean that the children will spend substantial
time with each parent as determined by each parent's
schedule.
Sole Legal Custody- one party makes
all the major decisions conveyed by Alabama
law for the minor children. The other parent is
allowed a voice, but the final decisions rest
with the parent who has sole legal custody.
Sole Physical Custody- The children
live with one parent exclusively. This parent
is sometimes referred to as the sole custodian.
The other parent may have visitation as it may
be agreed upon by the parties or decreed by the
court.
Read
Title 30 Alabama Code here |
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Visitation/Co-Parenting
Co-parenting time is the new visitation paradigm. The court will allow you and your divorcing
spouse the opportunity to agree on your own parenting schedule. If no agreement is reached, the court
typically awards primary custody to the Mother, and provides for two weekends per month and an
evening each week to the Father. School recesses are also included, typically. Holidays are often alternating, and other days like Mother's and Father's days should be resolved.
The court takes into consideration what each parent wants, what the child wants (if the child is old enough and/or mature enough), which parent has been the primary caretaker and the parenting abilities of each parent.
Any reported abuse is also taken into consideration. Couples should focus on the visitation/shared parenting |
schedules. Include drop-off and pick-up times and locations. Make certain both parents have access to school records, medical records, teachers and activities.
Define when vacations begin and end. Share birthdays.
Plan summer visitation. Above all, be considerate.
You'll get the amount of time with each parent
settled, but you won't have the summer recesses
nailed down. Insist on parameters (timing of summer
visits, early notification of availability, etc).
Get a drop-dead date in writing.
Be aware that you have to guide your side of the divorce. Don't rely that your attorney will think of everything. You set the course; your lawyer navigates. If you anticipate any problems with custody or visitation, we suggest you own Child Custody Strategies.
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| You have the opportunity
to put together a parenting Plan. If you and
your spouse are unable to agree on all aspects
of a plan, including child support, child custody,
child visitation including holidays and vacations
as well as medical care and other provisions,
the court will create a parenting plan for you.
The more detail you have in the plan, the less
chance there will be for disputes. |
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| Alimony/
Maintenance/ Spousal Support
Alimony continues to be a factor in many divorces in our state. As a rule they occur in marriages of 12 years or more. Marriages of less time tend to receive alimony at a lesser frequency. Alimony in Alabama (sometimes called spousal support or maintenance) is becoming more a means of rehabilitating a working-aged dependent spouse so that he or she can re-enter the work force and become financially independent, signaling that courts extend fewer lifetime awards than in the past.
Like annulment, alimony decisions are based on case law more so than by divorce statutes. It is subjective; determined by the facts of an individual case, and the judges interpretations. Marital misconduct can play a part of any judicial decision. Pre-marital or inherited assets are excluded from any equation for alimony if they meet certain non-mingling requirements.
The wife may resume a maiden name
or any previous surname- the husband can prevent
the wife from continuing with his name. Just so
you know, if you were divorcing in Texas, |
alimony
there when awarded is generally for a period of
only three years, and is granted as a
means to allow the recipient some income as they
transition to the work force. Are
you or your spouse having issues with alimony?
It seems whenever a lengthy marriage ends and
one of the parties stayed home (usually to care
for children), disagreements about who deserves
what assets become inevitable. The truth is this:
If you both agreed that one of you would become
a stay-at-home parent while the other worked outside
the home, all assets earned or received (outside
of inheritances) have to be the equal property
of both of you. If only one of you funded a retirement
account, the court will force that retirement
account to be divided between you.
You may realize that we all need some help
processing all this angst. The help can come in
the form of friends, relatives or professionals.
If you're not inclined to approach family or friends,
and unwilling or unable to pay for professional
counseling, the next best step would be educating
yourself, through reading. This site has a Bookstore
sponsored by Amazon.com, where you can find
some fabulous books
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|
on
just about every consideration surrounding divorce.
Spend some time and a few bucks to help yourself
get through this nightmare in one piece.
Alabama
Child Care Enforcement
The term 'alimony'
is becoming less frequently used in divorce. Spousal
Maintenance or Spousal Support have gained more
favorable usage in recent years.
Periodic
Alimony-
Payment of spousal support that is paid on a regular
schedule.
Gross Alimony- Also referred to as
spousal support, this normally is a lump sum payment
that compensates one spouse with a distributive
share of the marital wealth. The four characteristics
of gross alimony are: non-taxable, can be discharged
in a bankruptcy, fixed, and determined without
considering any of the estate held by the party
receiving the alimony. |
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Grounds
For Divorce
Alabama
allows for fault divorces as well as "no-fault" divorces.
The no-fault ground for divorce is known as Irretrievable
breakdown of the marriage with no hope of reconciliation.
Fault grounds include physically and incurably
incapable of consummating the marriage, adultery,
voluntary abandonment by either spouse for one
year prior to the filing of the complaint, when
either spouse is imprisoned for a felony conviction
for a period of two years and the actual sentence
is
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seven
years or more, the commission of crimes against
nature, before or after the marriage, drug or alcohol addiction, complete incompatibility-can no longer live together, insanity-committed to an institution for 5 years and incurably insane, wife was pregnant at the time of marriage without the husband's knowledge, in favor of either party when the other has committed actual violence or placed the party in reasonable apprehension of
such violence, in favor of the wife when she has lived separate and apart from the husband without his support for two years prior to the filing of divorce, and she is a resident of Alabama.
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| If you file
for divorce this year, and complete the process,
you will be one of more than 20,000 Alabama couples
immersed in the process. Make sure your's doesn't
become a case study on what NOT to do by doing
your homework, researching the issues, and being
involved in your attorney's 'game plan'. You may
not know what you don't know, but more importantly,
you don't know what your attorney doesn't know.
For the cost of less than an hour in lawyer fees,
you can become a ninja
warrior. |
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Marriage
Annulment
Marital Annulment
To receive a marriage annulment in Alabama, one needs to claim grounds for annulment
and provide proof that a specific condition was or is present that justifies the court providing an marital annulment. The annulment process is based on case law (much like alimony is in many states). Conditions or grounds that would permit filing for an annulment in Alabama would be: Fraud & Duress-
Fraud would be your mate misrepresenting something important to you or cheating you somehow, duress
would be if your spouse forced or threatened you to get married, Underage marriage-
Either you or your mate were under 14 at the time
of marriage, that would be considered null and
void under the drugs- If either of you
were under Alabama annulment laws, Under the
influence of alcohol or drugs- If |
either
of you were under the influence when the ceremony
took place, that would qualify for a marriage, the influence when the ceremony took
place, that would qualify for a marriage annulment, Bigamy,
or the existence of a prior marriage-
If you or your mate had another legal marriage
going at the time of your marriage, courts would
likely issue an annulment, Impotency-
If either of the spouses cannot consummate the
marriage, the marriage is considered void. You
can also file for an Alabama annulment according
to Alabama annulment laws using this ground: Incest or Consanguinity-
Consanguinity is marrying someone too closely
related by blood. A petition for annulment is
accepted if the marriage took place between close
relatives like, father, mother, nephew, sister,uncle
or aunt, which violates Alabama annulment laws.
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you have
married any such relative, you can get an annulment
in Alabama according to Alabama annulment laws.
Don't confuse a legal annulment
of a marriage with a religious annulment. A legal
annulment is a legal process, much live filing
for separation or divorce, where you must file
a petition stating grounds for the claim, and
be able to provide evidence supporting your petition.
A religious annulment, most
often used by couples married in the Catholic
Church, is handled exclusively by the church. Obtaining
either form of annulment does not in any way impact
the other. |
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Marriage
Counseling/
Mediation
Alabama divorce statutes provide
for what is called "Mandatory Mediation
Prior to Trial." Three conditions when mediation
is mandatory: 1.) At any time where all parties
agree, 2.) At either party's request. The party
asking for mediation pays the costs of mediation,
3.) If no party requests
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mediation,
the trial court may, on its own motion, order
mediation. The trial court may allocate the costs
of mediation, except attorney fees, among the
parties. In the case of domestic violence issues,
the court will not order mediation and will allow
another remedy (such as a protective order) to
be put in place before considering mediation.
The court will
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not
order marriage counseling but may suggest it.
DRS believes counseling can be a great help in
most cases. You can't go around this issue (divorce);
you must go through it, and unless you have several
divorces under your belt, you're going to need
a guide. |
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Legal
Separation/Marital Separation
You
may petition for an Alabama legal separation and
the court will grant a legal separation to a party
in the divorce if 1.) the court has proper jurisdiction
(the person filing must do so in the correct locale/county),
2.) a statement is included that the marriage
is irretrievably broken or there exists a complete
and total incompatibility, and 3.) the court is
able to consider and approve of a parenting plan
submitted by the parties that will provide for
child support and custody of any children of the
union. As in all decrees of separation, it does
not alter the married status of the parties.If
you
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both
agree to the separation, and you
do so in writing, and after the court enters an
order of legal separation, all of the following
provisions will come into play: 1. All earnings
or accumulations realized by each spouse after
the date that the court enters the decree of legal
separation are the separate property of that party; 2.
A spouse may sell or otherwise dispose of his
or her real estate without the signature or consent
of the other; 3. Each spouse may waive all rights
to inheritance from the other spouse. Alimony
may be awarded at any time prior to the final
decree, and can be in the form of cash or real
property or any other asset the courts deems appropriate.
There is no set formula for determining alimony
by the court. As
with most states, alimony is more a |
function
of case law
than specific statutes.
Retirement assets or benefits may be divided provided
the following conditions are met: a. The parties
have been married for a period of 10 years during
which the retirement was being accumulated, b.
The court shall not include in the estate the
value of any retirement benefits acquired prior
to the marriage including any interest or appreciation
of the benefits, and ac. The total amount of the
retirement benefits payable to the non-covered
spouse shall not exceed 50 percent of the retirement
benefits that may be considered by the court.
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| Waiting
Period
Waiting period: Alabama divorce law requires that thirty (30) days elapse from the filing of the summons and complaint before a final judgment of divorce be entered. |
Alabama further requires that neither party to the divorce may remarry, except to each other, until sixty days after the judgment of divorce is entered. If an appeal of the judgment of divorce is taken, the parties may not remarry, except to each other, during the pregnancy of the appeal. |
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| Grandparents Rights
At the discretion of the court,
grandparents may be awarded visitation privileges
of minor grandchildren. You should consider having
details of grandparents visitation in place before
the final decree gets gaveled, otherwise, it may
be back to court you go (legal fees). |
Involved
grandparents can expect the courts, in general,
to be favorable to petitions requesting time with
the children. It goes without saying that a good
relationship is always better than a court order.
The shame is a fairly high percentage of these
cases experiences alienation from the custodial
parent. |
State
Fact Sheets for Grandparents and Other Relatives
Raising Children
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Divorce
Settlement
Alabama is known as an "equitable
distribution" state. If the parties cannot
reach a divorce settlement on dividing marital
assets, the court will do so. Alabama divorce
laws determine that the division of property and
debts between the divorcing parties should be
fair and equitable, but not necessarily equal.
The parties have the opportunity to come to a
divorce settlement and not leave that settlement
up to the court. There is no fixed standard to
divide property, each case will be decided on
its facts, and the trial court's discretion will
not be disturbed on appeal without a showing of
clear abuse. [Editor's note: make sure you and
your lawyer make certain you leave no stone unturned,
as once the ink dries on this issue, it's pretty
well set in stone]. Did you come into this marriage
owning a house? Concerned about the equity in
that house that you brought into the marriage?
Worried about having a pre-marital asset be subject
to a |
divorce
settlement? Here's how it works generally. What you brought into the marriage is usually all yours. However, any appreciation of the house or the property value is normally treated as a "marital asset",
meaning that you will likely forfeit a third to a half of that appreciation to your spouse in the divorce.
You may realize that we all need some help processing all this angst. The help can come in the form of friends, relatives or professionals. If you're not inclined to approach family or friends, and unwilling to pay for professional counseling, the next best step would be educating yourself, through reading. This site has a Bookstore sponsored by Amazon.com, where you can find some fabulous books on just about every consideration surrounding divorce. Spend some time and a few
bucks to help yourself get through this nightmare in one piece.
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| Typically, only possessions that
legally qualify as separate property according
Alabama's definition are absolutely safe
from divorce settlements. Assets that often are
considered Not part of any marital settlement
include: Assets Acquired Before The Marriage-
The property one spouse obtained prior to
the wedding date are typically considered NOT
subject to division. Assets
singly owned- Cars, homes and other major
purchases not jointly owned or jointly insured
fall outside the marital assets class. Assets
Received Through Inheritance or Gifting- Tangible
and intangible property inherited by one spouse
through a legally valid document will be set aside
from the divorce proceedings. Earnings
After Separation Filed For- Set aside as
singly owned. Pension And
Retirement Benefits Before Marriage- Excluded
from division, although any increase or appreciation
after the wedding will be subject to marital sharing. |
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| Residency
Requirements
Residency is important for jurisdiction (which court hears the case and what laws get applied). If both are residents of Alabama, either can file with the circuit court in the county where they reside. If one is a resident of another state (meets that state's residency requirements), that person may file in that out-of-state jurisdiction. |
When
the defendant is a non-resident, the
other party must be a bona fide resident of Alabama
for 6 months. Dissolution must be filed where
the separation occurred, or if the defendant is
a nonresident, then in the circuit court of the
county in which the other party to the marriage
resides.
If one party does not meet Alabama
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residency
guide- lines, and the other does, they can consider
having the resident file if timing is a concern.
Filing an action first isn't necessarily an
advantage if both reside in the same locale. If
fault is claimed, the petitioner has the burden
of proof to provide evidence to convince the court
a particular behavior occurred.
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