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.  

1.  I am in need of help and I can't afford an attorney. Can you share some suggestions with me?  Our office does uncontested divorces for $500, plus the cost of filing with the Court.  If you qualify, you can have the cost of filing waived.  If you and your spouse have not agreed to EVERYTHING about your divorce, you have a contested divorce.  Our nonrefundable retainer fee for a contested divorce is $750 (plus the cost of filing), and we bill out at $140 per hour.  We even accept payment plans so you do not have to come up with all of the money at once.  Our clients thank us all of the time for having some of, if not the, lowest rates and easiest payment plans in Louisville and surrounding Kentucky counties. 

2.  What are divorce mills and should I use one?  When you think of divorce mills, think of puppy mills.  Like puppy mills, divorce mills churn out an ungodly number of divorces each year.  These are the advertisements you see saying divorces for $199 or some similar amount.  If you pay close attention to such ads, rarely will you ever see the name of the attorney who will actually be representing you because in most cases there is no actual attorney who will review your case.  Your data is pigeon-holed into pre-determined places on standardized forms and little or no attention is paid to any detail.  Divorce mills may be fine for couples who have been married only a short time, have no marital home, children, or retirement accounts, and who do not desire any face-to-face time with an actual attorney.  For everybody else, we recommend against using such services.

In our office, an experienced, competent attorney personally prepares each and every divorce petition and all other pleadings.  We send our clients a copy of virtually everything that we send or receive and we listen, offer suggestions, and keep you informed by telephone, mail, email, or in person meetings.

3.  Absent an agreement with my spouse, how does the Court decide who gets custody of my child? 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 interacts with others while the child is with one parent;

   D. The type of model that each parent is 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 the child would be split apart from other siblings;

   H. What each parent could offer the child;

    I. The psychological makeup of each parent;

Each spouse is entitled to legal custody of the child and 9 times out of 10, a Court will award joint custody to the parties.  However, most often a Court will decide that a child shall live primarily with one parent, with the other parent still retaining legal custody of the child.  This means that both parents are to have an equal say as to the important medical, educational, and religious, decisions for the child, although in practice this is easier said than done. 

4.  What is the normal visitation the Court will award to my spouse when my child lives primarily with me?  Normally, the Court will award the other parent every other weekend, one day during the week every other week, two weeks during the summer, and alternating major holidays. Of course, the parties can agree to a different schedule and the Court nearly always accepts such agreements.

5.  My ex-spouse isn't paying child support, what do I do?  You can contact an attorney to enforce a child support order.  Alternately, Kentucky County Attorney offices are statutorily required to help a parent enforce a child support order and one important thing County Attorneys can do that private attorneys cannot is press criminal charges against the "deadbeat" parent.  When the amount of unpaid child support reaches over $1,000, felony charges may be brought and Commonwealth or Assistant Attorneys General may be called in to prosecute the case.  The problem is, many Kentucky County Attorney offices are swamped with such cases and you may wait months or years before your case is prosecuted.  Usually, private attorneys can work faster and they still can ask the Court to jail the "deadbeat" parent on civil contempt charges for violating a child support enforcement order.  Child Support in Kentucky lasts until age 18, or age 19 if the child is still in school (other states may require support to age 21), and may be extended if the child is mentally or physically impaired.

6.  How long do I have to be a resident of Kentucky 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.

7.  How long do I have to be a resident of Kentucky to file for divorce if children are involved? In Kentucky, 6 months.  Other states vary from a few days to one year. No state has a waiting period longer than a year.

8.  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 after the divorce petition is filed.

9.  Do women still automatically get the children? Gender is no longer a legal factor in granting custody. However, women still more often file divorce actions as petitioners and they tend to win custody more often than men.  This is particularly true for very young (age 3 and under) children.

10.  What about grandparents rights?  In Kentucky, grandparents may be granted visitation rights to their grandchildren.  However, to be granted such rights, the grandparent(s) have to prove by clear and convincing evidence that such visitations would be in the best interests of the child.

11.  What do I have to do to change child 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.  However, the Kentucky case law in this area is still evolving.  Currently, if a parent only wants to change the amount of time that the child spends with each parent, all that a parent need prove is that it is in the best interests of the child for the change to be made.

12.  Is there any way not to 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 a parent leaves Kentucky  before being served a motion for support, Kentucky Courts then do not have jurisdiction to order the support.  The parent wanting support would then have to find where the other parent is living and serve legal papers in that state.  If a parent leaves Kentucky after being served here, a Kentucky Court can still order child support.  In Kentucky, a parent cannot voluntarily terminate his parental rights to a child to avoid paying child support, even if the custodial parent agrees with the termination.  In cases of abuse or neglect, Kentucky Child Protective Services can file a petition to terminate a parent's parental rights, and if such rights are terminated, the parent no longer has to pay child support.  While this may provide an incentive for a parent to abuse or neglect a child he/she does not want to support, remember that the abusive or neglectful parent can always be brought up on criminal charges for the abuse or neglect.  A person cannot bankrupt his child support obligation.

13. What about parental kidnapping?  Parental kidnapping is a subset of the crime of custodial interference.  In Kentucky, the crime of custodial interference is a felony.  Anyone can be charged with the crime of custodial interference if the person interferes with right a parent or other custodian has to raise the child.  A parent can be criminally charged with parental kidnapping if that parent wrongfully takes the child away from a parent having custody of the child.  Thus, either parent having joint legal custody of a child can be charged with parental kidnapping if he or she takes the child away from the other parent.  Kentucky  has a felony kidnapping statute, and if the child is brought across state lines it is also a federal crime.

14. Can I remove my children from Kentucky if my job changes ? The best interests of the child test is used.  See the answer to question 3.

15. How is child support decided? Child support is normally decided by a child support guidelines chart the Kentucky legislature adopted. Each parent pays a pro rata share of the costs of raising the child, including day care and medical expenses.  A noncustodial parent can expect to pay about 22% percent of his gross wages for child support, not including day care and medical expenses.  The parents can agree to deviate from the amount determined by the guidelines chart, but the parents have to convince a judge that there are good grounds for the deviation. 

16. How are property and debts divided? Normally marital assets and debts are evenly divided, although they do not have to be.  A person earning more money, inappropriately causing most of the debts, or destroying or converting marital property may be saddled with more of the marital debt.

17. What is marital and non marital property ? Marital property or assets are any property that the parties earn or purchases during the marriage. Property that is inherited or gifted to one of the parties during the marriage or that is earned before the marriage is not typically subject to be divided, as it is non marital property.  Non marital property can become marital property if the property is commingled (mixed in) with marital property.

18. What is an Emergency Protective Order, a Domestic Violence Order, and how do they differ? An EPO is a short term (no longer than 14 day) judicial order that is obtained without a hearing so the Court only gets the alleged victim's side of the story. A DVO is granted after a hearing with both sides being present.  It may last up to 3 years and can be renewed.  An EPO/DVO forbids a person from  harming or contacting a spouse or live-in boyfriend, girlfriend, or relative.   This may often include granting a spouse custody, child support, and even alimony.  Under Kentucky law, judges must grant an EPO/DVO if it appears that violence threatening significant bodily harm has or may occur.  Often times, the threshold for granting an EPO/DVO is quite low.  In an article published by the Louisville Courier Journal, it was claimed that almost one half of all the Kentucky EPO/DVO cases filed were made on false claims that were filed to obtain an advantage in the parties' divorce.

19. Am I entitled to Alimony? In Kentucky, the term alimony has been replaced with maintenance, although the concept remains the same.  Maintenance is not normally given unless the parties have been married for a long time (typically, 8 to 10 years), one spouse is unable to provide for himself/herself or at least not at the level afforded during the marriage, and the other spouse is able to pay the maintenance and still be able to afford his or her 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 bankruptcy 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 bankruptcy. 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 bankruptcy and that you will still have to pay the debt. Seriously consider whether you or they will file bankruptcy 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 bankruptcy 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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