What are the Grounds for Divorce?

Few people are excited about knowing that their best bet to living a happy life is divorcing their spouses. This often leads to a variety of emotions, including fear of the unknown. The moment you realize you are no longer happy in your marriage and want to get divorced you are probably simultaneously asking yourself what are the grounds for divorce in Kentucky. Only an experienced Kentucky family law attorney can offer legal advice on your specific situation but understanding the general working of the legal system regarding divorce can be helpful.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a purely no fault state. Irreconcilable differences are the only grounds for divorce that you need. This means that neither you nor your spouse had to do anything wrong to cause the marriage to fail. Additionally, this also means that you will not be permitted to argue that your spouse’s wrongdoing was the cause of the pending divorce. However, the court is allowed to consider fault when dividing property or awarding alimony.

Kentucky is an equitable division state. This means that generally speaking the income earned by each party during a marriage remains that person’s money. Additionally, property in one sole person’s name usually remains that party’s property. However, at the time of a divorce the judge does have the option of splitting assets and property in whatever way he or she believes is fair, which is not necessarily equal.

If you have children, child support and child custody will be other issues that have to be figured out. It is expected that both parties support the children even after the divorce. The amount of child support expected from each party varies upon a variety of factors, including income, assets, and time the children spend with each parent. Child custody is generally split as equally as possible. Kentucky courts begin with the presumption that it is best for the children to spend time frequently with both of their parents. Whenever possible a joint custody agreement is usually arranged.

Although many people think that a divorce will be simple and a do-it-yourself job, nothing could be further from the truth. This is especially true if children are involved or there are a large amount of assets. To protect yourself you need to contact a Kentucky family law attorney the moment the thought of divorce crosses your mind.