Kentucky Divorce Recovery

Child Custody

Kentucky divorce laws in have allowed courts to rule in favor of Joint Custody much more frequently in recent years. If the parties agree on joint custody (or shared custody) in a Parenting Plan or Visitation Schedule , it is likely to be granted. The following relevant factors are considered when weighing KY child custody awards:

• The wishes of the child's parent or parents,
• The wishes of the child as to his custodian,
• The child's adjustment to his home, school, and community,
• The mental and physical health of all individuals involved,
• Information, records, and evidence of domestic violence,
• The extent to which the child has been cared for, nurtured, and supported by any de facto custodian,
• The intent of the parent or parents in placing the child with a de facto custodian; and
• Relationship of the child with his parent or parents, his siblings, and any other person who may significantly affect the child's best interests.

The court will not consider conduct of a proposed custodian that does not affect his relationship to the child. If domestic violence and abuse is alleged, the court will determine the extent to which the domestic violence and abuse has affected the child and the child's relationship to both parents.

The abandonment of the family residence by a custodial party shall not be considered where said party was physically harmed or was seriously threatened with physical harm by his or her spouse, when such harm or threat of harm was causally related to the abandonment.

Worried about a custody battle? Don't be blind sided by your ex. Learn the facts by owning a complete Child Custody Library on the best strategies for winning or keeping child custody.

 

Download Kentucky Divorce Forms

[Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.270]

Marriage Annulment - Marital Annulment

One must petition the court for a marriage annulment much like you would for a divorce or legal separation. Kentucky divorce laws require that one must prove grounds for an annulment in order for one to be granted. There are specific grounds that Kentucky recognized that permit a decree of annulment.

They include:

• Fraud & Duress - If you married your spouse under some threat or duress,
• Mental illness - If your spouse has some mental illness,
• Bigamy - If your spouse was already married at the time s/he married you and
• Underage marriage - enter into a marriage before the age of 16 without the consent of parents,
• Incest (consanguinity) - the marital relationship between parent and child, stepchild; grandparent and grandchild; aunt and nephew; uncle and niece etc.

The annulment process carries with it a greater burden to prove to the court that a marriage should be voided with an annulment.

 

[Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 391.100; 402.010-.030, 070; 403.120]

Child Support

The Bluegrass state has established Kentucky child support guidelines which serve as the presumed correct amount of support to be paid. Courts may deviate from these guidelines only upon a specific showing that the application of the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate. Any deviation from the guidelines must include a specific written finding stating the reason for the deviation as provided by KY child support laws.

The obligation to provide Kentucky child support will terminate upon the emancipation of the minor child unless the child is eighteen (18) years old and still in high school. If the child turns eighteen (18) while still in high school, the support obligation shall continue until the completion of the school year in which the child turns nineteen (19) years old. The following percentages of the net income of the paying parent are  what the KY child support guidelines are generally based on, if there is not an agreement between the parents:  

• 1 child       20%
  
• 2 children 25%
  
• 3 children 30%
  
• 4 children 35%
  
• 5 children 40%
  
• 6 children 45%

If health care coverage is reasonable and available, the court shall allocate between the parties, in proportion to their adjusted gross income, the cost of health care coverage for the child. If coverage is not reasonable and available, the court shall order that such coverage be provided at the time it becomes reasonable and available.

All court orders of child support will include the Social Security numbers of all parties subject to the support order. A KY child support award may only be modified upon a showing of a material change of circumstances which would result in a fifteen percent (15%) change in the amount of support paid. KY child support ends at age 18, unless High School graduation occurs after that, at which time child support ends at age 19.

Concerned about custody and visitation issues in the future? Will your spouse try to take advantage of you? Get an online parenting plan and set up the calendar before you get divorced, and adjust it to the court ordered visitation schedule. If your ex knows it's online and you are documenting things, it's less likely you'll be constantly challenged. Click on the demo link to view the program.

Child Care and Health Care

The court will allocate between the parents, in proportion to their combined monthly adjusted parental gross income, reasonable and necessary child care costs incurred due to employment, job search, or education leading to employment, in addition to the amount ordered under and KY child support guidelines.

If health care insurance coverage is reasonable and available at the time the request for coverage is made, the court shall allocate between the parents, in proportion to their combined monthly adjusted parental gross income, the cost of health care insurance coverage for the child, in addition to the support ordered under the child support guidelines.

[Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.210 and 403.212]

Legal Separation - Marital Separation

A legal separation results when a couple separates and a court rules on the child support, custody, alimony, visitation and division of property, but doesn't grant a divorce. With a legal separation (sometimes called a marital separation), any assets accumulated or debts incurred after a finalized legal separation are no longer considered jointly owned. A specific legal process is necessary for a legal separation to be effected. Specifically a Settlement Agreement must be submitted to a court, addressing all support, custody, visitation and asset issues between the couple.

A legal separation is a court order that details who gets the children, who pays support for the children and how much, whether spousal support (alimony) is ordered, and who gets what marital property and debt. You might want a legal separation if your religious beliefs prohibit divorce, if you or your spouse have not lived in Kentucky long enough to file for divorce, or if one of you needs to be covered by the other's medical insurance. A legal separation costs about the same as a divorce. Filing for legal separation does not prevent a divorce from being filed, however. The main  difference between dissolution of marriage and legal separation proceedings is that after a judgment of separation the parties remain married for all purposes including eligibility for health insurance. 

Divorce Settlement - Dividing marital assets

Kentucky is considered an 'Equitable Distribution' state. In the absence of a divorce settlement by the parties, the court will first determine the marital property, put a value on it, and then distribute it to the parties in as equitable a manner as possible. Without consideration for marital conduct, the court will consider the following in this process:

• Value of the property set apart to each spouse,
• Duration of the marriage; and,
• Economic circumstances of each spouse when the division of property is to become effective, including the desirability of awarding the family home or the right to live therein for reasonable periods to the spouse having custody of any children,
• Contribution of each spouse to the acquisition of the marital property, including contribution of a spouse as homemaker.

Concerned about custody and visitation issues in the future? Will your spouse try to take advantage of you? Get an online parenting plan and set up the calendar before you get divorced, and adjust it to the court ordered visitation schedule. If your ex knows it's online and you are documenting things, it's less likely you'll be constantly challenged. Click on the demo link to view the program.

Lock up the assets

If you think your spouse might try to hide assets, or spend them, we suggest you file a petition for a financial temporary restraining order. This order prevents liquidating assets or spending money beyond the basic necessities of daily living. You might first consider allocating enough funds to see yourself through, because the restraining order will apply to you too.

[Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.190]

Alimony - Spousal Support - Maintenance

Alimony (or Maintenance as it is sometimes called) can be ordered paid by one or the other parties based on the following circumstances:

• The standard of living established during the marriage,
• The duration of the marriage,
• The age, and the physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance,
• The financial resources of the party seeking maintenance, including marital property apportioned to him, and his ability to meet his needs independently, including the extent to which a provision for support of a child living with the party includes a sum for that party as custodian,
• The time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment,
• The ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet his needs while meeting those of the spouse seeking alimony/maintenance.

Alimony is now more often referred to as spousal support, to better reflect that payments can be made to both genders. Its intent is to reduce the chances one spouse will become destitute, and to provide a means of support that can allow the dependent spouse the opportunity to begin a new life. Spousal support can be ordered to allow the dependent spouse to retrain so that he or she can re-enter the work force.

Temporary Spousal Support - intended to support one spouse while the divorce proceeds through the courts. It either gets terminated at the divorce or continued, which can be one of the following:

Short Term Spousal Support - post-divorce, these payments usually allow the receiver to get on his or her feet, often to find employment or pay off debt.

Long Term Spousal Support - typically is ordered for the lifetime of the dependent spouse, or until he or she remarries.

There are occasions where spousal support is ordered until the last child turns age 18.

You may realize that we all need some help processing all this angst. This site has a Divorce Bookstore sponsored by Amazon.com, where you can find affordable books on parenting time, kids and divorce, shared custody, parental rights, custody battles, joint custody, co-parenting, child visitation, how to be divorced, life after a separation and just about every consideration pertaining to being divorced. Spend some time and a few bucks to help yourself get through this nightmare in one piece. 

Concerned about custody and visitation issues in the future? Will your spouse try to take advantage of you? Get an online parenting plan and set up the calendar before you get divorced, and adjust it to the court ordered visitation schedule. If your ex knows it's online and you are documenting things, it's less likely you'll be constantly challenged. Click on the demo link to view the program.

 

[Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.200]

Visitation - Your kids will move between two homes

Generally, the non-custodial parent is entitled to reasonable visitation pursuant to the Kentucky visitation guidelines. The court will deny reasonable visitation if, after a hearing, it is determined that visitation would seriously endanger the child's physical, mental, moral or emotional health.

The parents can put together and agree on a visitation (parenting) schedule for the non-custodial parent, and if they are unable to agree, the court will apply a standard visitation schedule. The court's standard plan will be less detailed as any you might develop, so do your best to come up with your own plan.

It would likely include: alternate weekend visitation (3-day weekends included), mid-week visitation, sharing of the children during periods of school recess- winter, spring and summer, New Year's Eve, Easter, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, and Christmas with one parent or the other in alternate years, Father's Day with Father, Mother's Day with Mother, alternate years on the children's birthdays, and open communication by phone and computer. A parent not granted KY custody of the child is entitled to reasonable visitation rights unless the court finds, after a hearing, that visitation would endanger seriously the child's physical, mental, moral, or emotional health. Upon request of either party, the court shall issue orders which are specific as to the frequency, timing, duration, conditions, and method of  scheduling visitation and which reflect the development age of the child.

 

 

Be aware that you have to guide your side of the divorce. Don't rely that your attorney will think of everything. Be familiar with the divorce laws in your state. You set the course; your lawyer navigates. If you anticipate any problems with custody or visitation, we suggest you own Child Custody Strategies.

Grounds for divorce

Kentucky divorce laws mandate that Kentucky be a “No-Fault” state. The grounds for divorce are Irretrievable breakdown. If both of the parties by petition or otherwise have stated under oath or affirmation that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or one of the parties has so stated and the other has not denied it, the court, after hearing, will make a finding whether the marriage is irretrievably broken.

No decree will be entered until you have lived apart for 60 days. Living apart includes living under the same roof without sexual cohabitation. The court may order a conciliation conference as a part of the hearing. If one of the parties has denied under oath or affirmation that the marriage is irretrievably broken, the court will consider all relevant factors, including the circumstances that gave rise to filing the petition and the prospect of reconciliation, and will:

• Make a finding whether the marriage is irretrievably broken, or
• Continue the matter for further hearing not fewer than 30 nor more than 60 days later, or as soon as the matter may be reached on the court's calendar, and may suggest to the parties that they seek counseling.

The court, at the request of either party will, or on its own motion may, order a conciliation conference. At the adjourned hearing the court will make a finding whether the marriage is irretrievably broken. A finding of irretrievable breakdown is a determination that there is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.

Irretrievable breakdown - If both of the parties by petition or otherwise have stated under oath or affirmation that the marriage is irretrievably broken. No decree will be entered until the parties have lived apart for 60 days. Living apart can include living under the same roof without sexual cohabitation.

[Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.140]

Residency - You must be a legal resident to file

In an action for dissolution (divorce) or separation: (1) The Circuit Court will enter a decree of dissolution of marriage if: (a) The court finds that one (1) of the parties, at the time the action was begun, resided in this state, or was stationed in this state while a member of the armed services, and that the residence or military presence has been maintained for 180 days next preceding the filing of the petition.

 

 

[Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.140 and 452.470]

Mediation - Using a Mediator to resolve differences

If one party to the divorce action denies under oath that the marriage is irretrievably broken, the court may make a finding that the marriage is irretrievably broken or continue the matter for further hearing not fewer than thirty (30) days or more than sixty (60) days later. 

 

 

[Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.170]

Grandparents Visitation

Visitation may be granted if the court determines that the visitation is in the best interest of the child. Grandparents may petition the court either during or following the divorce action. Paternal and maternal grandparents can petition for and be granted visitation. These visitation rights can survive the termination of parental rights that belong to the grandparent's son or daughter (the father or mother of the child).

A grandparent whose child has died and who has been providing child support for a grandchild can be awarded visitation that is equivalent to the visitation rights of a non-custodial parent. If a grandparent is awarded visitation under these terms, those rights cannot be taken away even if the rights of the grandparent's son or daughter are terminated.

If you want to avoid a separate legal action, with separate legal fees, see if your visitation with your grand kids can be settled during their parents divorce.

Adoption terminates grandparents rights unless the adopting party is the stepparent and the grandparents child hasn't lost parental rights. 

 

 

 

Waiting Period

Kentucky law provides that no divorce decree will be issued until the parties have lived separate and apart for sixty (60) days. Living separate and apart can mean that the parties share the same domicile, as long as they have no sexual relations between each other during that period of time. In divorce actions where there are minor children of the marriage, no testimony other than on temporary motions will be taken or heard before sixty days have elapsed from the date of service of the summons, the appointment of a  warning order attorney, or the filing of an entry of appearance or responsive pleading by the defendant, whichever occurs first.

There are no restrictions against remarriage following an absolute divorce.