Walk It Through: The Divorce
A year in the state, an irretrievably broken marriage, sixty days after service, alimony, and a name back.
A woman who moved to Nebraska last spring wants a divorce from a husband she married in another state.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One divorce without children's custody in dispute. Child support, parenting plans, retirement accounts and the house are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- AlimonySupport one spouse may be ordered to pay the other in a divorce, set by the circumstances, the length of the marriage, contributions, interrupted careers, and the ability to work.
- Irretrievably brokenThe finding a Nebraska divorce rests on. If both spouses say under oath that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or one does and the other does not deny it, the court makes the finding after a hearing.
- Perfection of serviceThe completed delivery of the divorce papers to the other spouse. No divorce is heard or tried until sixty days after it.
- SolemnizedPerformed by a person authorized by law. A marriage is valid only if the license was used within one year from issuance and the marriage was solemnized.
- Age of majorityNineteen. All persons under nineteen are minors, though a person who marries younger stops being one.