Walk It Through: The Split
Irreconcilable differences for six months, equal parental rights, and an equitable distribution.
A pharmacist, married for years with one child, decides the marriage is over and asks what it takes to file.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One marriage and one house. Fault grounds, child support, and open durational alimony 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.
- Irreconcilable differencesA ground for divorce: differences that have caused the breakdown of the marriage for six months and make it appear the marriage should be dissolved with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.
- AlimonySupport a court may award to either party: open durational, rehabilitative, limited duration or reimbursement.
- Equitable distributionThe court's division of property in a divorce, weighing factors such as the length of the marriage, each party's income and earning capacity, any written agreement, and each party's contribution, including as a homemaker.
- Joint custodyCustody both parents hold. The court may order joint legal or physical custody, with the child living with one parent or with each, and in any custody proceeding the rights of both parents are equal.