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The Top 60+ Frequently Asked Divorce Questions At Our Office
Although these Questions are answered by Kentucky Divorce Law the laws
of other states are almost always similar and in some cases we explain
the range of the exceptions. Please help us by e mailing us questions
and we will add your questions and answers to this ever growing list of
commonly asked questions.
I am in need of help and I cant afford an attorney. Can
you share some suggestions with me?
You may want to ask for assistance from Legal
Aide. Many of their offices will do a divorce for persons with low
incomes. Normally attorneys charge about $500 to $700 or more for a
divorce and the court costs are an additional $120 including service of
process. However every county may have a different amount for their
court costs. I don’t suggest that anyone do their own divorce
but all of the forms for an agreed and uncontested divorce are in my
manual. If you have only been together for a few months your spouse may
be agreeable to signing an uncontested divorce so that there isn’t a lot
of expense and paperwork to be involved. Even if you do your own
divorce you should have an attorney look over the paperwork before you
sign any settlement agreement. If there isn’t any property, child
support or child custody questions and the divorce is only a matter of
dissolving the marriage, you may be ok in doing it yourself. The problem
with doing your own divorce is that you do have to go to the trouble of
going to the courthouse and doing all of the paperwork and most
individuals lack the skill and knowledge. Because of the time involved,
and the emotional expense and trouble, most people are happy to pay
$500 or more dollars to have an attorney prepare the uncontested divorce
paperwork. It may be far better for you to work a little extra and
pay for it.
I will be updating my Divorce manual over the next
month to include some information for individuals who are unable to pay
and how they can get child support in Kentucky. All of the forms for a
simple uncontested divorce are in my manual. They are in the back and
it can be downloaded for free from the internet. You just insert your
own names and information you should be able to finish an uncontested
divorce with these forms. I have the general divorce forms on disk so
that a person can later get an increase in their child support. I can
only guess at what the majority of the forms that a person would need in
the case of a contested divorce so I am constantly adding more forms to
the disk. If you don’t find a form on my disk please request it and we
will add it and send you an update. The Manual is in RTF format and any
word processor will convert the manual and the forms and the manual
tells you how to do an uncontested divorce. However, if your divorce
is contested or if you need to enforce child support those forms would
have to be on a disk.
1 What should I pay for an attorney and what are
divorce mills? A lawyer that doesn’t charge for his time will be
worth every penny you pay. The eventual outcome of your divorce depends
on the facts, the law, how the judge views your case, and other factors
including how good your attorney is. Every case is different. Although
your lawyer may express an opinion on possible or probable outcomes,
nobody can be sure of the result until it happens.
Our practice is based on referrals from clients that are
treated like family not high pressure advertising that blankets an area
trying to get everyone into our office. Our personnel and resources are
located in one office. Mills attempt to cover an area often with branch
offices staffed by non attorneys, paralegals or untrained staff just to
get more business and cases. Mills normally handle cases with untrained
or under qualified personnel. We are legitimate attorneys. Mills often
do not keep clients informed about the status of their cases. We send
clients a copy of virtually everything that we send or receive. We keep
you informed and give status reports by telephone, mail or in person.
2 How does the Court
decide who gets Custody? The Court uses a best interests of
the Child test. Factors that may be used to decide who gets custody
include:
A Job and Residential Stability
B Emotional Stability of the Parent
C How the child performs in school and with
others while it is with one parent.
D The type of model that each parent would be for
the child.
E Negative factors such a drug or alcohol
addiction and former child abuse allegations
F Whether or not the child has become used to and
integrated into the home of one parent
G Whether it would split apart siblings.
H Income is not a directly a factor but what each
family could offer the child is a factor is.
I Psychological evidence is a strong factor and a
judge may order psychological exams.
J Whose fault the divorce was is never a factor
and conduct that does not effect a child is not considered.
Each spouse is legally equally entitled to custody
of the child. A court will almost always agree with the settlement
agreements of the parties. If there is no agreement the Court is forced
to decide based on psychological expert witnesses and testimony as to
what is best for the child.
3 What is the normal visitation the Court will
award? Normally the Court will award every other weekend, two
weeks during the summer, and alternating major Holidays if the parties
cant agree on visitation. Additional time can be agreed upon by the
parties if there is absolutely joint and equal custody each side will
get half.
4 He isn't paying child support what do I do?
If you know where he is and where he is working you can hire an attorney
to enforce the child support order. Some Commonwealth Attorneys and
County Attorneys work hard to criminally prosecute non support but
generally they are overworked and often cases are left alone for months
or years because of the overload. Many parents skip and change
identities to avoid prosecution. Child Support normally takes about 22%
of the persons income and if you also pay taxes the person has 50% of
his income taken out before he gets it. There is a very strong
relationship to parents that don't visit their children and parents that
don't support them. Single parent families and children that do not see
their fathers also do poorly in school and in their careers. Such
children also tend to have poor marriages, and divorce often because
they have poor parents as models. I know that this advise is politically
unpopular to state that single parent homes are poor homes but it is
accurate and correct statistically. Sometimes there is a need to
divorce. You have to because the relationship is unhealthy to stay in.
If you must divorce understand that it can have effects on the children
and how they later marry and act in their lives. If you see a problem
get counseling. Child Support in Kentucky lasts until age 18 other
states may require support to age 21.
5 How long do I have to be a resident to file
for divorce? In Kentucky 6 months other states vary from a few
days to one year. No state has a waiting period longer than a year.
6 How long do I have to be a resident if
Children are involved? In Kentucky 6 months other states vary
from a few days to one year. No state can have a waiting period longer
than a year.
7 How long do I have to wait for my divorce if
children are involved? In Kentucky you will have to wait at
least 60 days after the other party is properly served and the divorce
is filed.
8 Do women still automatically get the
children? Sex is no longer a legal factor in grating custody.
However women still more often file divorce actions as petitioners and
they tend to win custody more often than men.
9 What about grandparents do they have rights?
Yes they also can have visitation however cases have emphasized that
unless the parents are willing or it would deprive the child then it is
the parents wishes that rule unless the grandparents can prove by clear
and convincing evidence that visitation should be granted.
10 What do I have to do to change Custody.
This may be done by agreement or a showing that there is a change in
conditions since the time of the original judgment that endangers the
mental emotional or moral health of the child and that the child's
welfare would be supported by the modification.
11 Is there any way to not pay support
? One of the most common questions asked is how to not pay support.
A person has a duty to support their children. In a divorce, the
obligation to pay support starts with being properly served by a motion
for support. If the parent skips before being served support never
starts. However if they are served there are federal income tax
intercepts and many ways to enforce Bankrupcy Rules collection. If a non custodial
parent fails to pay support he may be jailed either for contempt or for
the criminal failure to pay support. A parents rights may be terminated
terminating the morgage obligation to pay support and termination of rights
altogether. This may be by agreement of the parties but it is unusual
that parent's rights are terminated unless there is another father ready
to step into those shoes or Bankrupcy Alternative unless the parent is a danger or a strong
negative influence to the child. Non payment of child support is not by
itself sufficient to terminate a parent's rights to a child normally
abandonment or more is required. It requires a showing that it is in the
best interests of the morgage terms
child that the rights be terminated and this
normally requires that the parent is proven to be a poor influence in
the child's life. Many parents skip in order to avoid payment, others
may litigate child support so much that it costs more to litigate than
anything that is collected. Child support can also be repaid in a
Chapter 13.
12 What about parental Kidnapping? If
the state the child was taken from has a felony statute, then it may
also be a Federal crime. In Kentucky custodial interference is a felony
and a person wrongfully taking the child from it's parent has committed
a felony.
13 What is Joint Custody why do judges prefer
it ? Joint custody does not mean equal rights for both parents.
Normally one person has the child and controls the child the majority of
the time. However joint custody does mean that there is some sharing of
the management of the child. It is preferred by the Court because it
means a more mature divorce and home like family situation. Families
where both parents are involved means that the child is supported and
parented by both parents. Families where one parent is absent means more
chance of delinquency, child support problems and other problems.
14 Can I remove the children from the state if
my job changes ? Normally the custodial parent is free to move
from the state to a new job but the custodial parent often has to show
to the court that they should be allowed to move from the state.
15 How is child support decided? Child
Support is decided by a child support guidelines chart. Each parent pays
a pro rata share of the Debt Settlement Affiliate Programs
costs of raising the child including day care.
16 How are property and debts divided?
Normally property and debts are evenly divided. However there are
factors that may change the division of property. These factors include
one person destroying or converting property.
17 What is marital and non marital property ?
Marital property is any property that the parties earns or purchases
during the marriage. Property that is given to someone during the
marriage or that is earned before the marriage is not subject to be
divided and is non marital property.
18 What is and Emergency Protective Order?
An EPO is a judicial order forbidding a person from destroying property,
harming a spouse or contacting a spouse. This may often include granting
a spouse custody child support and even alimony. Under Kentucky law a
woman that claims domestic violence and that requests an EPO is given an
almost automatic grant of the children and child support with little or
no right to the spouse to defend the claim. In an article by the
Courier Journal it was claimed that almost one half of all the cases in
our courts were false claims that were filed to obtain an advantage in
the divorce system.
19 Am I entitled to Alimony ? Alimony
is not normally given unless one spouse is unable to provide for
themselves even then the other spouse has to be proven to be able to
afford the alimony. Alimony cant be awarded to one if the other person
wont be able to afford normal living expenses.
20 Do we have a common law marriage ?
There is only one state that allows and honors common law marriages and
Kentucky isn't it. If you live with someone you generally have none of
the rights that marriage gives you. There is no alimony or marital
property only child support. Living with someone gets you nothing in 49
states as far as a legal status.
21 What is an uncontested divorce ? A
divorce where both parties agree to all the terms of the divorce.
22 What is mediation Does mediation have any
advantages over a traditional litigated? If a divorce is
contested in Jefferson County then the parties have to first attempt
mediation before a hearing will be held. Mediation will attempt to work
out an agreement and both parties will divide the cost of this.
Mediation is an attempt by the Court system to reduce the number of
cases that it has to hear by reaching agreements with parties that are
arguing over issues that will waste the Court’s time. If the Court will
only evenly divide the assets in a hearing why not avoid the expense and
effort of trial? Mediation is much less expensive and more rapid than
litigation.
23 What effect are prenuptial agreements
? Prenuptial agreements are often reviewed for unfairness and they
are not favored by the Courts. However some parties with large amounts
of property going into a marriage are well advised to get an agreement.
It can document that some property was non marital property.
24 What is contempt ? The willful
refusal to obey court orders. A person may be jailed or imprisoned for
failing to obey court orders willfully.
25 When can I remarry ? The fact that
there has been a final hearing does not mean that you can remarry. You
should not remarry or believe that you are single until you receive the
final decree of divorce
26 I am planning to file what should I do when
should we separate our joint bank and credit cards ? Especially
if you suspect a contested divorce consider doing the following. 1 get
control of the financial records as soon as possible and make the
records safe. 2 cancel or close out checking savings and credit accounts
and take control of the assets. 3 If you have important items or
valuables remove them to a safe location. 4 Do not incur any new debt
because you will have a more difficult financial time. If you know that
you will also be filing Bankrupcy then you may want to make certain
that you do not charge more than 1000 dollars on any one credit card
within 90 days of filing Bankrupcy. Although you should not delay
consulting a lawyer, you should learn as much as you can about your
family's finances as soon as possible. Know the monthly and annual costs
of running the family home, how much you and your spouse earn, what each
of you have in savings, and where those assets are located. Find out
what insurance policies, if any, you and your spouse have, make
photocopies of past filed tax returns and find out what assets debts and
income both of you have.
27 Scenario: Years ago my spouse and I
divorced. She got the house in the divorce settlement. I am on the loan
for the house and she is not making the payments which she is required
to do in the divorce settlement. It is ruining my credit and they are
asking me to pay. What can I do? The Court may order a sale of the house
and it may reopen the case to divide the property or resolve the
situation fairly. Divorce Courts have "continuing jurisdiction" and they
can enter new orders when custody child support or visitation and
marital property needs to be changed later to reach a fair or proper
results. However, judges may also refuse to reopen a case if you should
have and simply failed to ask for some things like attorney fees earlier
and the request is late or untimely.
28 What is no fault and what are the grounds
for divorce? There are 12 common law grounds for divorce
adultery, abuse, fraud, sexual dysfunction, abandonment, alcohol and
drug addiction, and 6 other fault grounds. However Kentucky and almost
all the other states generally grant divorces based on no fault and
irreconcilable differences where one party establishes that they have
not lived with the other for 6 months and that the marriage is
irretrievably broken. In a non fault divorce there is no need to show
any wrong doing on any parties fault. All states have no fault laws and
unless there is a real reason for showing fault or wrong doing there are
few reasons for alleging fault.
29 What should I do if I am served with a
divorce complaint? You should immediately find an attorney. If
you fail to answer the complaint you may find yourself losing marital
property or paying too much child support or losing your right to
custody or visitation with the children. If you fail to answer the
complaint a default judgment may be granted to your spouse giving them
everything and denying you even visitation with the children and you may
never get the children or the property back. In some states like Georgia
you may forever lose the right to argue against the complaint if you do
not file an answer within 30 days.
30 What is an annulment? Unlike a
divorce an annulment means that the marriage was never valid. An
annulment is rarely granted if there are children. In order to grant an
annulment the Court normally has to find that the marriage was illegal.
For instance it would have to find that you married a close relative
that one party was mentally incompetent to marry or that one party was
underage. In all of these case the marriage was illegal or void to start
with. Filing for an annulment is also an admission by you that you
married someone mentally incompetent underage or a cousin and may admit
things about you to the court that can cause you to even lose your
children. Do you really want to admit you married a mentally retarded
person just to get an annulment?
31 Must I go to Court to get the Divorce?
No. Most states allow evidence by deposition where you take testimony in
the attorneys office with a Court reporter.
32 How long does it take to get a divorce?
In Kentucky, if there are no children the divorce can take less than 30
days as long as the parties have been physically separated for 60 days.
You can still be living in the same house you can’t be sharing a bed and
having sex. If there are children involved it will take at least 60
days even if all the parties are in agreement. If the divorce is
contested it may take years. If child abuse or spousal abuse is alleged
it can lengthen the divorce even longer to get visitation. It can take
up to a year to get a divorce in some states like Maryland. You must be
a resident in Kentucky for 180 days before you can file a divorce.
33 What happens while I wait for the divorce?
Either spouse may request a temporary hearing while waiting for the
final order so that child custody support visitation and even property
may be temporarily be awarded. These temporary orders may also be
restraining orders to not dispose of property. The judge will issue a
temporary order that awards items until the final trial however these
temporary orders have a tendency to become permanent so they are very
important. Emergency Protective Orders and other domestic violence
orders act like the temporary orders and tend to become permanent orders
for support or custody.
34 Why share custody? Almost every
study has shown that the more the parents involve themselves with
raising the children the better adjusted the child is. When parents
share the responsibilites of raising the child the child is more in
life. In Kentucky and many states judges will automatically order joint
custody with one parent being the "primary caretaker" of the child.
There is very little difference between this normally and one parent
having sole custody since one parent still primarily cares for the
child. However some cases have equal caretaking of the child with the
child living half the time with one parent and exactly half the time
with the other. Still however a child is better off with both parents
being married children "model" themselves after their parents and
children from divorced parents tend to be divorced themselves. Children
from abusive and alcoholic parents tend to become abusive or alcoholics
because they model their parents.
35 Can my spouse be made to pay support while
the child is in College? If the parties agree the child may be
supported through college. The judge normally cannot and will not award
support past age 18 unless the child is still in high school and in no
case past age 19.
35 What are the tax problems involved with
divorce? Alimony is a tax deduction. It is earned income to the
person who gets it and it is deducted from the earnings of the person
that pays it for tax purposes. Child support is not tax deductible. By
making support alimony instead of child support you may reduce the taxes
to one party and be able to give more to another. By using just this
method a couple can increase child support by 10% or more from the non
custodial parent to the custodial parent and still have a tax savings to
the wealthier spouse.
37 What do I do if I am the victim of family
violence? If you are actually a victim of family violence you
need to protect yourself and the children. You must report it to the
authorities and in Kentucky and many other states if you know of abuse
to the child and you do not report it you will be prosecuted and be
found just as guilty as the spouse that did the abuse. It is important
that you remove yourself and any children from the abusive spouse and
get to safety.
The system of spousal abuse however is extremely
sexist and abused. In Kentucky, the Cabinet for Human Resources and some
county clerks have refused to take reports of abuse if you are a male
and you report a female. If you are female however, the Cabinet for
Human Resources will encourage reporting and threaten her with removing
the children or prosecution if she considers not prosecuting her
husband. Victims of abuse can get a court order to protect them from the
abusive spouse. This order may grant you custody, child support, the
marital residence and property. The system is often abused with false
claims being made to quickly grab custody or property. Once the orders
have been in effect for a time they often become permanent orders as the
child becomes integrated into the new environment. The Judge is forced
by Kentucky law to grant the order and to essentially ignore any
evidence that the accused abuser brings to court and to only consider
the claim of the person alleging abuse.
38 Why do I need an attorney if we agree on
all the divorce issues? You still need an attorney because the
agreement that you are signing is often drafted by the attorney for the
other spouse and it may be written to protect them and to place you at a
later disadvantage. Unless you have a divorce attorney's understanding
of the law you may be signing away your children or our property. Never
ever sign any document or fail to get an attorney without legal advise.
What you sign away you may not be able to get back later. Having a
lawyer will insure that you have all the matters resolved properly. Not
having a lawyer almost always guarantees that you have made a costly
mistake and that you will lose property child support custody or
visitation. Further you may not understand exactly what later will
result from special terms that may be in the documents.
39 How can I enforce the divorce order?
The court orders can be enforced just like any other garnishment or
debt. It can also be enforced by contempt orders that jail or grant to
you property and attorney fees. Child Support may also be enforced as a
criminal action. If child support in the state of Kentucky is not paid
for 6 months or if the payer is behind 1000 dollars it may be enforced
as a felony conviction and the person put in prison and fined in
addition to being made to pay.
40 What happens to our property in a divorce?
Unless you and your spouse can agree on how to divide the
property it will be divided by the judge and the debts will be divided
also. However just because the debts are divided in the divorce does not
mean that creditors will not come after the other spouse. The divorce
decree does not stop bill collectors from collecting the debt they were
ordered to pay in the divorce from you. It may also be possible that
they file Bankrupcy and that you will still have to pay the debt.
Seriously consider whether you or they will file Bankrupcy and what
guarantees that they will pay. For instance if they cannot afford the
house it may be best for you to either force the sale of the house or to
take the house and the debt for it rather than trust them to pay for it.
It is common of a spouse to file Bankrupcy and sit in the house until
foreclosure and the mortgage company then attempt to collect from you
and have this destroy your credit. Marital property and the debts are
normally divided equally. Property that you earned prior to the marriage
or given to you is not divided and is not marital property. As long as
the property agreement is not unconscionable it will be granted.
41 What is alimony? Alimony is money
paid by one spouse to another of support and maintenance. It may be
granted by the husband or the wife however it is rarely granted to males
statistically. Alimony normally is for a limited period of time until
the spouse learns new job skills and becomes self sufficient. It cannot
be awarded unless the payer spouse can afford it. Alimony also stops
normally on remarriage or death of the spouse getting the alimony.
Alimony may be paid over time or in one lump sum. Child Support can also
be paid in one lump sum.
42 How do I get my maiden name back?
To get back your maiden name remember to tell your attorney to include
it in the marital settlement if you have a divorce agreement. Also your
attorney needs to include it in the Judges final order. It is more
expensive to go back to get it done later. It is very important that you
resolve all the issues at your final trial or in your marital settlement
or you may lose it forever. If you fail to have it set out you at least
will end up paying extra legal fees.
43 What if I forgot something in the marital
settlement? I forgot to include the question of my attorney
fees! If you forgot to include issues you may lose forever your right to
bring up the issue later. With the case of attorney's fees you probably
have lost it. With the case of not being able to agree on visitation
later you would be able to go back to court because the court has
continuing jurisdiction when an issue like changing child custody,
visitation, or support increases and decreases needs to be looked at
later and especially when circumstances change. When you simply failed
to ask for something out of your own incompetence, the judge will not
like wasting his time reopening the case to handle the case in small
later hearings when it should have all been done in one trial. Also
handling these issues in several small hearing will dramatically
increase the cost of the divorce.
44 Should I use a Divorce Mill to cheaply
process the divorce? You can save money time and effort by
working with each other in the divorce. But would you go to the cheapest
surgeon in town?? You tend to get what you pay for. If you use a cheap,
poor, or unqualified paralegal you may lose more in property, child
custody or child support than what you saved in attorney fees. If you
are a young couple with no property and no children and nothing to lose
it may be ok to spend less when nothing is at risk. However, if children
or property or debts are involved it is not advisable to have poor or
cheap representation. The average person will earn over one million
dollars in her lifetime. You can afford 1,000 to 3,000 for a divorce
better than you can afford losing your children or your home. Attorneys
now charge 150 an hour for their time and this may require one or two
days of their time even if the divorce is uncontested. Contested
divorces may take weeks of their time and thousands. You have to decide
if you want this done right or done cheaply and poorly. Cheaply and
poorly always costs more in the long run.
45 What is mediation? In order to
discourage expensive and time consuming trials mediation is required in
many Courts like Louisville Kentucky. In mediation another attorney will
offer suggestions to the parties so perhaps a trial can be avoided and
issues can be resolved.
46 Do the parties have to live apart?
No however they cannot share the same room and have sexual intercourse
and file for divorce. They may be "separated" and still share the same
house.
47 Should I withhold visitation from my ex
until he starts making child support payments on time and in full?
Many spouses use this as a tactic to force child support being paid on
time and it may work. However the "official legal answer is no you are
not supposed to use this as a tactic. You are using the children and
harming them by keeping them from your ex spouse in order to get them to
act properly. You are making the arguing worse and you are acting as
poorly as they are or worse. Additionally your children are watching you
and eventually they will dislike you for keeping them from their other
parent. These are separate issues and you should take them back to
Court for contempt for not paying.
48 What should I look for in a divorce
attorney? He should be qualified and have experience in Divorce
Court. He should do quality work, put effort into your case and not
overcharge. He needs to have respect for your feelings, what you want.
He has to answer your questions and return your calls. He has to take
time in doing your case and care for you. He must tell you the truth
about how the legal system works so you can use the information to plan
and protect yourself. He cant guarantee that you will win but he does
the work completely and pays attention to the details. You shouldn’t be
stuck talking to a secretary with unreturned calls. If you see any of
this get a refund of your retainer and find a better attorney.
49 Is it all right to date? Be
careful. When you are divorcing it is a very emotional time. You are
vulnerable in this state. There are no rules against you dating anyone.
When a person comes along and he meets your needs.... you feel thankful
....you want to give back after he has given so much to you. People have
successful marriages and relationships when their needs and desires are
met. People may offer to help at this time and you will be very
vulnerable to fill the empty void in your life by starting a new
relationship. You are changing. You are learning make the choices that
led to this divorce. Hopefully you are learning that some of the
strategies and models that you thought were right are wrong. You need
this time alone while you rethink roles your relationships. Getting into
a relationship at this time may complicate your divorce or heat up the
arguing in your divorce to remarry or to enter into any new relationship
by triggering jealousy. However if a person comes along that is that
perfect match there is no rule against dating and keeping yourself from
having the happiness you could have. If you do choose to have any sexual
relationship keep it private not public and in your spouses face.
51 What should I expect from an attorney?
A divorce by it’s nature requires you to divulge information to your
lawyer even your spouse does not know, and for him to advise you. But he
is not your psychologist nor is he qualified to give you psychological
advice. Questions concerning the children's welfare or your emotional
state should be addressed to the appropriate social or mental health
expert. Every attorney will, listen to your rendition of the problems in
the marriage and possibly take notes. After hearing your problems and
concerns, the attorney might give you a brief overview of the law,
explain the different options available to you, what she can hope to
accomplish for you. It is impossible to predict the future of any case
but he should be able to tell you what he expects after the initial
consultation. Be wary of any attorney who guarantees results. The
attorney should also describe her professional background and explain
her fee structure. An initial consultation has sometimes been compared
to a blind date, but the comparison is not far off base. Did you leave
the office feeling confident about the attorney? Did he keep you
waiting? Did he take calls during the meeting? Was the office shabby?
Lack of attention now, when a lawyer is presumably trying to obtain your
business, does not bode well for the future.
54 What
if I don't like the judge?
Judges recuse themselves (remove themselves) when there is a conflict
between them and some aspect of the case. For example, if a judge was
assigned to your case, and he was your husband's relative, he will
recuse himself from the case, and a different judge will be assigned.
The fact that a party does not like a judge is not a basis for recusing
him.
55 I
don't have the kids but I want the tax deduction what do I do? If the other parent has custody you don't qualify
for the exemption unless you obtain IRS "Release of Claim to Exemption
for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents" (Form 8332), signed by
them. The US Tax Court denied a non-custodial parent's claim for a
child's exemption even though the divorce court ordered that he be
allowed the exemption. It may be a huge savings if the larger wage
earner
56 How
old do you have to be to get married?
You have to be age 18 to get married in Kentucky but
you may get married under the age of 18 with parental consent. Age is
not a problem if the District court declares you to be emancipated and
an adult. This is can be done in the case of pregnant females. You
don’t have to be residents of the state of Kentucky to become married
but it may cause problems if you marry in Kentucky and return to a home
state that has more strict laws about marrying. Persons that have been
declared incompetent can not legally marry and their marriages are
void. Just having a mental problem does not disqualify a person from
marrying only being an idiot or a lunatic or being legally declared
incompetent will disqualify a marriage.
57 My
husband claims he wont grant me a divorce what if he wont let me?
You can not be held prisoner in a marriage that you
don’t want. If you want the divorce you do not have to have your
spouses consent. You need his agreement to marry him you don’t need his
agreement to divorce him. A spouse can contest a divorce and disagree
about the amount of child support alimony how the property is to be
divided who should get custody and what kind of visitation should be
allowed but you can’t be forced to stay married to anyone. A judge may
order a reconciliation conference to see if the marriage is broken or
not.
58 What
if I want a separation or an annulment?
Generally people that want a separation finally end
up filing two lawsuits the separation and the divorce. There is no
benefit to doing this (except for the attorney who charges twice for two
lawsuits). An annulment is a court procedure that dissolves a marriage.
But an annulment treats the marriage as though it never happened. For
some people, divorce carries a stigma, and they would rather their
marriage be annulled. Others prefer an annulment because it may be
easier to remarry in their church if they go through an annulment rather
than a divorce. An annulment is normally a claim that the marriage
contract never existed. The grounds normally include one of the
following reasons:
underage or mental capacity
the
person lacked the mental capacity or legal age to marry
incapacity or refusal to consumate the marriage
lacking the ability to have sexual relationship or to
have children, or they were still married
Concealment
concealing the fact that they were married to
another at the time of the marriage, that they had an addiction to
alcohol or drugs, a criminal history, children from a prior
relationship, a sexually transmitted disease, or impotency
misunderstanding one person wanted children and the other did not
Most annulments are granted for religious reasons
and take place after a marriage of a very short duration
58 Can I
get alimony or child support in a no fault case.
Alimony child support custody and property is
generally not awarded based on fault. In a rare case it may be a
defense to alimony. If anything finding fault may work against you.
Alimony ends when the person getting alimony remarries.
58 How
do I get my maiden name back?
Getting your maiden name back is simple. By simply
including it in the final divorce decree you are allowed to get your
maiden name back. The law requires that you are allowed to have your
maiden or former name back.
58 My
wife has remarried can she change the name of my child?
No. Not
without your permission.
59 If
you have any questions please send them to us so that we can add them to
this section
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