How to File for Divorce in Kentucky: Forms, Fees, and Serving

To file for divorce in Kentucky, submit a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage to the circuit court in the county where you or your spouse lives, after at least one of you has been a Kentucky resident for 180 days.¹ The state is no-fault, so the only ground you have to state is that the marriage is irretrievably broken, and no judge can sign the decree until you and your spouse have lived apart for at least 60 days.² Everything else — how long the case takes, whether you appear in court, what it costs — depends on whether you and your spouse agree on the terms.

Check That You Qualify to File

Residency is jurisdictional. If neither spouse has lived in Kentucky for the full 180 days before filing, the circuit court has no authority to hear the case and will dismiss it.¹ A service member stationed in Kentucky for 180 days meets the requirement even if their home of record is elsewhere.³

The only ground you need to state is that the marriage is irretrievably broken, meaning there is no reasonable chance of reconciliation. You do not have to prove your spouse cheated or did anything wrong. If your spouse denies the marriage is broken, the judge can either rule on the evidence or continue the case for 30 to 60 additional days and suggest counseling before deciding.²

The 60-day separation is a hard requirement regardless of whether both spouses agree.² Living apart does not mean separate addresses. You can stay under the same roof as long as you are not in a sexual relationship, and many couples do this for financial reasons.

Prepare the Petition and Related Forms

The Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is the document that starts the case. Under KRS 403.150, it must include:⁴

Each spouse’s age, occupation, Social Security number, current address, and length of Kentucky residency.
The date and place of the marriage and the date you separated.
Names, ages, Social Security numbers, and addresses of any minor children, and whether the wife is pregnant.
Any agreements about custody, visitation, child support, or spousal maintenance.
A sworn statement that the marriage is irretrievably broken.

Two forms are filed alongside the petition. The Case Data Information Sheet (AOC-105) gives the court administrative data for case management. The VS-300 Certificate of Divorce or Annulment is submitted electronically to the Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics at the same time as the petition.⁵ Both are available through the Kentucky Court of Justice website or your local circuit clerk.

If you and your spouse have already agreed on how to divide property and handle custody, write it up, sign it, and get it notarized before filing. A complete settlement attached to the petition can shorten the case dramatically because the judge may approve everything without a full hearing.

File With the Circuit Clerk and Pay the Fees

Take the paperwork to the circuit court clerk in the county where you or your spouse lives. The clerk assigns a case number and enters the case into the system, which officially starts the proceedings.

The base filing fee for a circuit court civil case is $150, plus a $20 court technology fee and any county add-ons for court facilities and the law library.⁶ Expect the total to run somewhere above $200.

If you cannot afford the fees, ask for a waiver by filing form AOC-026, a motion to proceed in forma pauperis. You must submit a financial statement showing that paying would deprive you or your dependents of basic necessities, or that your income falls at or below 100% on the Supreme Court’s sliding scale of indigency.⁷ If the judge denies the waiver, you have 30 days to pay or appeal.

Serve Your Spouse

After filing, you have to officially notify your spouse. Kentucky requires service of a copy of the petition and a court-issued summons through the methods allowed by the Rules of Civil Procedure.⁴ The common options are certified mail, personal delivery by a process server, or delivery by the county sheriff.

If your spouse is cooperating, they can sign an Entry of Appearance and Waiver. That form confirms they received the petition, voluntarily enter their appearance, and waive formal service.⁸ It saves time and the cost of a process server or sheriff.

If You Cannot Find Your Spouse

When your spouse’s whereabouts are genuinely unknown, request constructive service through a warning order. The clerk appoints a warning order attorney to represent the absent spouse. That attorney must make a genuine effort to find and notify your spouse by mail, then report the results to the court within 50 days.⁹ No judgment can be entered until this report is filed, and the attorney’s fee is added to the case costs.

If Your Spouse Does Not Respond

Once served, your spouse has 20 days to file a written response. If they do nothing, the case proceeds without their input and the judge issues a default judgment based on the petition alone. The nonresponsive spouse loses any say in property, custody, or support. If you are the one being served, ignoring the paperwork is one of the most expensive mistakes you can make.

Ask for Temporary Orders If You Need Them

Divorce cases can take months, and bills, children, and joint accounts do not pause. Either spouse can request temporary orders for maintenance, child support, and other protections while the case is pending.¹⁰

A motion for temporary child support must include an affidavit with income information and the number of children. The court is required to set a temporary support amount within 14 days of the motion, and support is retroactive to the filing date.¹⁰ In urgent situations a party can request an emergency order without notice, though the other spouse gets a chance to challenge it once served. Either spouse can also ask for a temporary restraining order to prevent the other from hiding assets, running up joint debts, or harassing them. Temporary orders stay in place until the judge replaces them with permanent terms in the final decree.

What the Court Will Decide

If you and your spouse have not settled everything, the judge will. Knowing how Kentucky handles the main issues helps you decide what to negotiate and what to fight over.

Property and Debts

Kentucky is an equitable distribution state, so the court divides marital property in fair proportions rather than automatically 50/50. The judge first separates non-marital property, which returns to the spouse who owns it, then divides everything else. Property acquired during the marriage is presumed marital regardless of whose name is on the title, and debts work the same way.¹¹

Non-marital property is narrower than most people expect. It covers property you owned before the marriage, gifts or inheritances received during the marriage, and property exchanged for pre-marital assets.¹¹ If the other spouse’s efforts significantly increased the value of an inherited asset, that increase can become marital. Marital misconduct does not factor into property division.

Custody and Parenting Time

Kentucky starts from a rebuttable presumption that joint custody with equally shared parenting time is in the child’s best interest.¹² A parent asking for less than equal time carries the burden of proving it would be harmful. The judge weighs each parent’s wishes, the child’s wishes, the child’s relationships and adjustment to home and school, any domestic violence, and each parent’s willingness to support the other’s relationship with the child.

When minor children are involved, Kentucky imposes a separate 60-day waiting period after service of process before any testimony can be taken or a final decree entered.¹³ This runs alongside the KRS 403.170 separation requirement, so the two do not necessarily stack. Many counties also require divorcing parents to complete a court-ordered parenting education course; the requirements and approved providers vary by county.

Child Support and Maintenance

Kentucky uses an income shares model for child support. Both parents’ incomes are combined and each contributes in proportion to their share of that total. Income includes wages, commissions, retirement benefits, disability benefits, and most other sources; means-tested public assistance like food stamps is excluded. If a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court can impute income based on earning capacity, with exceptions for parents who are incarcerated, incapacitated, or caring for a child age three or younger.¹⁴ A self-support reserve of $915 per month protects low-income paying parents.

Spousal maintenance is not automatic. A spouse qualifies only if the court finds they lack enough property to meet their reasonable needs and cannot support themselves through appropriate employment. Both conditions must be met. The court then considers each spouse’s finances, the time needed for education or training, the standard of living during the marriage, the length of the marriage, and each spouse’s age and health.¹⁵ Long marriages with significant income disparities are far more likely to produce a maintenance award.

Getting the Decree Signed

Once the 60-day separation has passed and every issue is resolved or decided, the case is ready for a final decree. In uncontested cases where the spouses agree on everything, a judge often signs the Decree of Dissolution based on written submissions without requiring anyone to appear. Some judges still want a brief hearing to confirm the settlement is fair and any custody arrangements serve the children.

Contested cases go to trial. The judge hears evidence, applies the statutory factors, and issues a decree covering property, custody, support, and any other outstanding matters. After the judge signs, the circuit clerk records the order and sends certified copies to both parties. You will need that certified decree to change your name on identification, update bank and retirement accounts, revise beneficiary designations, and remove your former spouse from powers of attorney or healthcare directives.

Handle Health Insurance Right Away

If you are covered under your spouse’s employer plan, coverage typically ends the day the divorce is finalized. For federal employee plans, coverage terminates at midnight on the day the divorce becomes final.¹⁶

Under federal COBRA rules, divorce is a qualifying event that entitles the former spouse to continue coverage for up to 36 months.¹⁷ Notify the plan within 60 days of the divorce, then enroll within 60 days of receiving your COBRA election notice. Coverage is expensive because you pay the full premium plus an administrative fee, but missing the enrollment window forfeits the option permanently. Put it on your calendar the day you file.

1
Justia. Kentucky Code 403.140 – Marriage – Court May Enter Decree of Dissolution or Separation
2
Justia. Kentucky Code 403.170 – Marriage – Irretrievable Breakdown
3
Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Revised Statutes 403.140 – Marriage – Court May Enter Decree of Dissolution or Separation
4
Justia. Kentucky Code 403.150 – Procedure – Commencement of Action, Pleadings, Abolition of Existing Defenses
5
Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services. Divorce Web Form Application VS300
6
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Circuit Civil Fees and Costs
7
Kentucky Court of Justice. Motion for Waiver of Costs and Fees and to Proceed In Forma Pauperis
8
Kentucky Court of Justice. Entry of Appearance and Waiver
9
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. CR 4.07 Warning Order Attorney
10
Justia. Kentucky Code 403.160 – Temporary Orders – Maintenance, Child Support, Injunction
11
Justia. Kentucky Code 403.190 – Disposition of Property
12
Justia. Kentucky Code 403.270 – Best Interests of Child Shall Determine
13
Justia. Kentucky Code 403.044 – Testimony in Certain Cases Not Taken for Sixty Days After Complaint Filed
14
Justia. Kentucky Code 403.212 – Child Support Guidelines
15
Justia. Kentucky Code 403.200 – Maintenance – Court May Grant Order for Either Spouse
16
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. I’m Separated or I’m Getting Divorced
17
U.S. Department of Labor. FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers