Ending a marriage is a difficult process. Even if the spouses are congenial and bear each other with no ill will, the emotions and logistics involved in untangling a life together into two separate lives are complicated.
A Barton County family lawyer could help you manage the process and protect your legal rights while also serving as a voice of reason to help the proceedings go smoothly. Especially when children are involved, accomplishing an efficient and fair divorce could go a long way to preserving relationships moving forward.
Kansas recognizes three grounds for divorce in Kansas Statute Annotations § 23-2701. The first is incompatibility, which does not require either spouse to prove or accept fault for the divorce or explain why the marriage is ending. The second and third grounds, however, do rely on some sort of fault: failure to perform an obligation of the marriage or mental incapacity. The statute states that the relevant spouse must have either been confined to an institution for at least two years or determined to be mentally incapacitated by law to show mental incapacity sufficient for divorce.
Filing for divorce on one of the fault grounds, as opposed to simply for incompatibility, is unlikely to affect the court’s division of the marital property, but it could affect the court’s decisions related to child custody. A family attorney in Barton County may be able to evaluate a spouse’s specific situation to provide more details regarding how different grounds for divorce may alter the outcome of the proceedings.
To be eligible to file for divorce in Kansas, Kan. Stat. Ann. § 23-2703 requires that at least one of the spouses reside in the state for at least 60 days before filing the petition for divorce.
In some situations, the Barton County spouses, often with the help of a family lawyer, could negotiate how they want to separate their property before filing the divorce claim. If so, the court will likely agree to the arrangement but may object if it seems unfair to one spouse.
However, if the spouses cannot agree, a judge will decide independently. The judge’s decision must be equitable to both parties; Kan. Stat. Ann. § 23-2802 sets forth factors for the judge to consider in splitting the property, including:
The judge can effectuate the division by splitting the property between the spouses, giving the property to one spouse and requiring them to pay cash to the other to make up the difference, or ordering the property to be sold and the proceeds of the sale split between the spouses.
Divorce is never easy. But it need not be contentious or acrimonious. You deserve to have your interests protected without having to make the process any more difficult than it is natural. An experienced attorney may be able help you accomplish that by identifying your goals, exploring the legal avenues available to reach them, and serving as an intermediary with your spouse.
Schedule an initial consultation with a Barton County family lawyer today to learn more.
