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Our 3StepDivorceTM Online Divorce for Kentucky is offered with a peace-of-mind 100% guarantee.
We offer a 100% guarantee that the documents provided will be accepted by the Kentucky courts to finalize your divorce.
In the event that the documents provided are not accepted by the Kentucky court due to the fault of 3StepDivorceTM, you will be provided a 100% refund (with no handling fee).
Our support staff will always give each individual customer personal attention should they have difficulty. We have both e-mail and phone support. This being said, prior to issuing a refund, we reserve the right to meet any courts requests regarding changes to the documents.
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Kentucky Residency Requirements
Court may enter decree of dissolution or separation. (1) The Circuit Court shall enter a decree of dissolution of marriage if:
(a) The court finds that one (1) of the parties, at the time the action was commenced, 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. The Dissolution of Marriage is typically filed with in county in which the filing spouse lives. (Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.140 and 452.470)
Kentucky Divorce Grounds:
Irretrievable breakdown. (1) 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, shall make a finding whether the marriage is irretrievably broken. No decree shall be entered until the parties have lived apart for 60 days. Living apart shall include living under the same roof without sexual cohabitation. The court may order a conciliation conference as a part of the hearing. (Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.140)
Kentucky Property and Debt Division
In a proceeding for dissolution of the marriage or for legal separation, or in a proceeding for disposition of property following dissolution of the marriage by a court which lacked personal jurisdiction over the absent spouse or lacked jurisdiction to dispose of the property, the court shall assign each spouse's property to him. It also shall divide the marital property without regard to marital misconduct in just proportions considering all relevant factors including: (1) Contribution of each spouse to acquisition of the marital property, including contribution of a spouse as homemaker; (2) Value of the property set apart to each spouse; (3) Duration of the marriage; and (4) 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. (Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.190)
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Kentucky Spousal Support, Maintenance, or Alimony:
The maintenance order shall be in such amounts and for such periods of time as the court deems just, and after considering all relevant factors including: (1) 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; (2) The time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment; (3) The standard of living established during the marriage; (4) The duration of the marriage; (5) The age, and the physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking
maintenance; and (6) The ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet his needs while meeting those of the spouse seeking maintenance. (Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.200)
Kentucky Custody and Visitation:
The court shall determine custody in accordance with the best interests of the child and equal consideration shall be given to each parent and to any de facto custodian. The court shall consider all relevant factors including: (1) The wishes of the child's parent or parents, and any de facto custodian, as to his custody; (2) The wishes of the child as to his custodian; (3) The interaction and interrelationship of the child with his parent or parents, his siblings, and any other person who may significantly affect the child's best interests; (4) The child's adjustment to his home, school, and community; (5) The mental and physical health of all individuals involved; (6) Information, records, and evidence of domestic violence; (7) The extent to which the child has been cared for, nurtured, and supported by any de facto custodian; (h) The intent of the parent or parents in placing the child with a de facto custodian; and (8) The circumstances under which the 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 and whether the child was placed with a ,de facto custodian to allow the parent now seeking custody to seek employment, work, or attend school. (Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.270)
Kentucky Child Support:
A written finding or specific finding on the record that the application of the guidelines would be unjust or inappropriate in a particular case shall be sufficient to rebut the presumption and allow for an appropriate adjustment of the guideline award if based upon one the following criteria: (1) A child's extraordinary medical or dental needs; (2) A child's extraordinary educational, job training, or special needs; (3) Either parent's own extraordinary needs, such as medical expenses; (4) The independent financial resources, if any, of the child or children; (5) Combined monthly adjusted parental gross income in excess of the Kentucky child support guidelines; (6) The parents of the child, having demonstrated knowledge of the amount of child support established by the Kentucky child support guidelines, have agreed to child support different from the guideline amount. However, no such agreement shall be the basis of any deviation if public assistance is being paid on behalf of a child (7) Any similar factor of an extraordinary nature specifically identified by the court which would make application of the guidelines inappropriate. (Kentucky Statutes - Title 35 - Chapters: 403.210 and 403.212)
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How Do I Know if I Should File in Kentucky?
One would typically file for divorce in the state in which he or she or his or her spouse resides. If you have recently moved to a new state and wish to file in that new state, you may have to establish residency prior to filing.
If you are in the military and are stationed on a base outside your residency state, you typically are able to file in that state or in your residency state. If you are in the military and are stationed overseas, you would typically file in your home residency state. Can I Use 3StepDivorceTM if I Have Children?
Yes. The system and your documents will address all the issues regarding your children such as, but not limited to; custody arrangements, visitation and time-sharing, child support, and medical coverage.
How Much Are the Kentucky Filing and/or Court Fees?
The filing and/or court fees are not included in our fee and typically range from $50.00 to $350.00 in total depending on your location of filing and whether or not you have children. The 3StepDivorce service will typically help you yield the lowest filing fee for you because both you and your spouse are in agreement.
How Long Will the Process Take in Kentucky?
The process takes an average of less than 1 hour to answer the required questions and generate the documents. Once you file your documents with the court according the filing procedures, the length of time will vary depending on the number of cases in front of yours. Each court has only one or just a few Judges, Masters, or Referees to review all the pending cases.
Should I File or Should My Spouse File?
As a rule of thumb, for uncontested divorces, the spouse who really wants the divorce to be finalized typically does the filing.
Where and How Do I File My Documents?
The documents are filed at your local county courthouse in the family law or domestic relations division or department. Inside your account you will receive step-by-step filing procedures.
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Can I Mail or Fax My Documents to the Clerk?
Many courts do permit you to mail and/or fax the documents. This will vary from county to county and state to state, so it will be best to check with the clerk at the courthouse when you are ready to file.
Do I Have to Go to Court in Kentucky?
Depending on your state and your situation, you may or may not have to attend a short hearing. Most of the time when a hearing is required, it only lasts 10-15 minutes and only the filing spouse must attend. The hearing is where you will be granted your divorce and the judge will sign the final judgment or decree.
Do I Have to Also Hire a Lawyer?
3StepDivorce is designed for you to do your own uncontested divorce without hiring a lawyer. You will be acting as your own lawyer and filing for your own divorce. Should you need or desire legal advice or should your divorce become contested, we do suggest you hire the services of a lawyer.
Will My Name Also Be Changed?
The wife has the option to change her name back to her former or maiden name through the 3StepDivorce solution.
When is the Divorce Actually Finalized in Kentucky?
The divorce is typically finalized when the Judge signs the final judgment or decree. We give a window of 30-90 days from the filing date, but this will vary due to case load at the courthouse and any mandatory waiting periods.
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Kentucky Forms: Our question and answer technology will allow you to easily complete your Kentucky divorce forms for an uncontested divorce. Our goal is to give you full control and make "doing your own divorce", fast, easy, and affordable.
Kentucky Divorce Forms List
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A total of 92 people have started their divorce through 3StepDivorceTM in the last 24 hours and 923 in the last 10 days. The streamlined and user-friendly process, instant document delivery, and unlimited free support makes us the go-to solution to do your own divorce. Our simple and inexpensive process provides you with all your completed divorce papers in as little as 20 minutes. Instantly access your completed divorce forms after a short online interview. It is that easy, no lengthy completion or delivery times.
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This easy to use online divorce is a "do it yourself (without a lawyer)"
solution for any uncontested divorce (with or without children) that
will be filed in the state of Kentucky. An uncontested divorce is one in
which you and your spouse are in agreement and eliminates the stress and
expense of settling your divorce in court.
With 3StepDivorce TM you can complete and print your Kentucky divorce forms (including a marital settlement agreement) instantly. Follow our step-by-step filing procedures to file your uncontested divorce in Kentucky in a timely, professional, and hassle free fashion. The online software is designed to give you full control of your divorce and also avoids the use of third party data entry, thus helping protect your personal information and privacy. If you're not ready to file for divorce, learn more about getting your Separation Agreement or learn more about the basics of divorce in Kentucky and how to do your own divorce in Kentucky . Also, If you have any questions try visiting our Kentucky Divorce Online Help Center . |
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Filing for divorce can seem overwhelming. Like starting almost any other legal proceeding, it takes finding the right forms, filling out the forms properly, and understanding the court’s requirements for the next steps you’ll need to take.
Traditionally, most people have hired a lawyer to take care of all the legal matters in their divorce. But more and more couples are turning to a much cheaper option that’s still easier than figuring out everything on their own: filing for divorce online.
If you want to know more, read on for answers to some of the most common questions about online divorce in Kentucky.
Kentucky 3StepDivorce™ takes care of the divorce paperwork for you. Once you sign up for the service, you’ll answer some questions about your situation. Based on your responses to the questionnaire, Kentucky 3StepDivorce™ will fill out the forms the state requires to start the divorce process, along with instructions for adding any further information that’s needed. You’ll be able to print out the forms yourself immediately or, if you prefer, get hard copies by mail.
Kentucky has three basic requirements for divorce in the state: a residency requirement, a judge’s determination that your marriage is beyond repair, and a short separation requirement.
Before you may file for a Kentucky divorce, either you or your spouse must have been living in the state (or been stationed there in the military) for at least 180 days up to the filing date. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 403.140(1)(a) (2022).)
Unlike some states, Kentucky has only one legally accepted reason (or “ground”) for divorce: that your marriage is “irretrievably broken.” However, unlike most other “no-fault divorce” states, Kentucky requires more than simply stating that your marriage is beyond repair when you file for divorce. Instead, a judge must hold a hearing and find that there’s no prospect of reconciliation. If one spouse has denied that the marriage is irretrievably broken, the judge may pause the divorce proceedings for 30 to 60 days and suggest that the couple seek counseling. If one spouse requests it, the judge must order them to attend a conciliation conference. After this reconciliation period, the judge will resume the hearing and decide whether the marriage is truly broken irretrievably. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 403.170 (2022).)
Before the judge may sign your final decree of divorce (or “dissolution of marriage”), you and your spouse must have lived apart for at least 60 days. The law makes clear that the two of you could be staying in the same residence during that time, as long as you aren’t having sexual relations. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 403.170(1) (2022).)
Many Kentucky residents are finding that they can file for divorce and get through the process without the expense of hiring a lawyer if they’re filing for an “uncontested divorce” in the state. That means that they’ve agreed with each other about all of the legal issues in their divorce, including:
If you still have disagreements with your spouse about these or any other issues involved in ending your marriage, you’ll have to file for a traditional, contested divorce. Because that will involve legal battles and presenting evidence and arguments at court hearings, it would be risky to pursue a contested divorce without a lawyer to navigate the process for you—especially if your spouse has an attorney.
You may use Kentucky 3StepDivorce™ as long as you have an uncontested divorce and meet the state’s residency requirement. You’ll need to have a written marital settlement agreement, signed by both you and your spouse, that covers all of the issues in your divorce. Kentucky 3StepDivorce™ will guide you through the process of creating this agreement, based on your answers to the questionnaire.
Kentucky 3StepDivorce™ can also help if you aren’t ready to file for divorce, but you want a separation agreement with your spouse. For instance, you might want to work out arrangements for support, custody of your children, who has to move out of the family home, and how to take care of the bills while you’re separated but still legally married.
Just because you haven’t been able to agree with your spouse about everything in your divorce, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go through an expensive and time-consuming contested divorce. You could try divorce mediation. If you’re able to resolve your disagreements with the mediator’s help, you can then use Kentucky 3StepDivorce™ to prepare the written settlement agreement, along with the other divorce paperwork.
Generally, you can use Kentucky 3StepDivorce™ even when you have minor children with your spouse, as long as you agree on all of the issues related to your kids, including legal and physical custody, a parenting (visitation) schedule, child support, health and dental insurance, and tax deductions. Kentucky 3StepDivorce™ will allow you to address these issues in your settlement agreement. We provide a standard parenting schedule, but you’ll have an option of customizing the schedule to meet your individual needs.
However, you won’t be able to address custody-related issues with Kentucky 3StepDivorce™ if the affected child or children don’t meet the “home state” requirement. Usually, that means the child must have lived in Kentucky with a parent (or a parent figure) during the entire six-month period before you file for divorce (or since birth if the child is younger than six months old). If you don’t meet the six-month rule, you should speak with an attorney to find out whether you might qualify for one of the complicated exceptions to this rule. (Ky. Rev. Stat. §§ 403.800(7), 403.822 (2022).)
In Kentucky, both parents have an obligation to support their children. And like all states, Kentucky has child support guidelines for calculating how much support the parents should pay, based largely on their incomes and custody arrangements. Any time the amount of child support deviates from the guideline, the judge must find that applying the guideline would be “unjust or inappropriate” under the circumstances. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 403.211 (2022).)
3StepDivorce™ provides the Kentucky Child Support Guideline Worksheets, so you can easily calculate the state's guideline level of support. You and your spouse may agree to an amount of child support that differs from the guideline amount (unless your child is receiving public assistance), but the judge will need to review and approve your agreement.
In your settlement agreement, you and your spouse may include child support provisions that aren’t legally required, such as a parent’s contributions to private school tuition or the cost of a child’s college education. You may also agree on some specific questions like which parent will claim the children as dependents on tax returns.
After your divorce in Kentucky is final, you (or your spouse) may request a change in the amount of child support, but you’ll need to show that there has been a substantial and continuing change in circumstances that would affect the amount of child support under the guidelines. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 403.213 (2022).)
You can make a written request with your local child support office (part of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services) for a review of your current support order. If they find that your circumstances have changed enough to warrant at least a 15% increase or decrease in the amount of support, they’ll file the modification request with the court for you.
If you want to save the time and expense of a court battle over a request to modify child support, you and your spouse may agree to a modification on your own. As a general rule, you should submit your agreement to the court so that it can be enforced as an official court order.
When you fill out your questionnaire for Kentucky 3StepDivorce™, you’ll answer a series of questions about your separate and marital property and debts, including how you’ll divide your marital property and allocate responsibility for payment of the marital debts.
If you own a home with your spouse, your agreement can spell out what will happen to it when you get divorced. Here again, the questionnaire will include a few questions about the property and how you’ve chosen to deal with it, such as:
In your Kentucky 3StepDivorce™, you may also agree on whether and how you’ll divide any retirement accounts that you and your spouse have, including 401(k)s, individual retirement accounts (IRAs), and defined-benefit pensions.
If you started contributing to the retirement plan before you were married, you’ll start by figuring out how much of its current value is marital property and how much is your separate property. There are experts and firms that will do this for you (for a fee, of course). The service is usually known as a pension appraisal or valuation. You’ll almost always need this kind of expert help when you’re dealing with a defined-benefit pension.
Once you know the marital value of your work-related retirement accounts, the easiest way to handle the division of the assets is not to split them but to transfer other assets as an offset. Here’s how that works: Say you have a 401(k) through your job, and the marital portion of the account is worth $100,000. If you and your spouse agree to divide that portion down the middle, and you have other marital assets to divide (such as a regular savings account), your spouse could receive an extra $50,000 from those assets while you keep the entire 401(k). That way, you don’t have to hire another expert to prepare the kind of special order that’s needed to tell the 401(k) administrator how to divide the account.
The rules are different for IRAs. You may simply agree to have your spouse’s share transferred to another IRA account in that spouse’s name. (You’ll have to submit a special form to the bank, along with a copy of your divorce decree.)
You and your spouse may waive any right to alimony in your Kentucky divorce, or you may agree on the specifics of alimony payments: who will pay, how much, and for how long. Your agreement may also state whether a court could modify alimony at any time in the future, and it could cover related issues like health insurance and life insurance.
When you get your completed forms with Kentucky 3StepDivorce™, your next step will be to bring the paperwork for filing with the Family Court in the county where either you or your spouse usually lives. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 452.470 (2022).)
In Kentucky, the court fees for filing divorce papers vary by county, typically ranging from about $150 to $250.
If you don’t have the money to pay the divorce filing fee in your county, you can ask for a waiver by submitting a Motion for Waiver of Costs and Fees and to Proceed in Forma Pauperis. If you qualify, you won’t have to pay any court fees during your divorce case. If you receive a notice that you don’t qualify for a waiver, you’ll have 30 days to pay the fees.
If you and your spouse have minor children, Kentucky requires a 60-day waiting period (starting when you serve your spouse with the divorce papers) before you can get a court hearing to finalize your divorce. (Ky. Rev. Stat. § 403.044 (2022).) If you don’t have kids and didn’t separate from your spouse until you filed for your divorce (or shortly before), you could also run into the 60-day separation requirement before a judge may sign the divorce decree (as discussed above).
In practice, it could take somewhat longer than 60 days to get your final divorce, depending on how busy the court is and whether all of your paperwork was in order.
Kentucky 3StepDivorce™ provides unlimited, live, person-to-person support for customers. If you have any questions about how uncontested divorce works, call our Kentucky Divorce Online Help Center at (888) 665-6782 (toll free), Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm (Pacific Time).
Please keep in mind that we are not lawyers and so cannot give out legal advice. If you have questions about Kentucky law or need legal advice, we recommend that you contact an experienced family law attorney in your area.
3StepDivorce TM is a premium online divorce solution, a sister company of Divorce Source, the owner and operator of the Divorce Source Network, the web's largest and most visited online divorce resource since 1997.
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| A sister company of Divorce Source with over 750,000 forms processed since 1997. | Have your completed documents within 1 hour (with or without children) | Instantly print your documents (free delivery by US Priority Mail is also available). | Instantly make changes (gives you full control, the way it should be!) | All required divorce documents ready for signing. |
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